Officer In S.C. Shooting Previously Accused Of Using Excessive Force

By Krishnadev Calamur / NPR

Published April 9, 2015 at 6:00 AM PDT

This story was published more than 9 years ago.

In this April 4, 2015, frame from video provided by attorney L. Chris Stewart representing the family of Walter Lamer Scott, city patrolman Michael Thomas Slager checks Scott's pulse in North Charleston, S.C. Slager was charged with murder on Tuesday, hours after law enforcement officials viewed the dramatic video that appears to show him shooting a fleeing Scott several times in the back.

Michael Slager, the former North Charleston, S.C., police officer who was charged this week for shooting an unarmed black man in the back, killing him, was exonerated in 2013 of accusations he used excessive force against another unarmed man he thought was a suspect.

That incident occurred Sept. 15, 2013, when Slager and another officer went to the home of Mario Givens in North Charleston. They were looking for Givens' brother Matthew Givens, who was a suspect in a burglary. Slager went to the front door and the other officer went to the rear of the house.

Here is the report of the investigation into Slager based on a complaint from Givens:

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The Associated Press reports that North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said the department plans to review Givens case.

The AP, which first reported the story, adds:

"The incident report filed by Slager and the other officer, Maurice Huggins, provides a very different version of events. In the report, obtained by The AP through a public-records request, Slager wrote that he could not see one of Givens' hands and feared he might be holding a weapon. He wrote that he observed sweat on Givens' shirt, which he perceived as evidence that he could have run from Brown's home, and then ordered him to exit several times. "Givens didn't comply, Slager said he entered the home to prevent him from fleeing and was then forced to use his stun gun when Givens struggled with him. The officers' report describes the Givens brothers as looking 'just alike.'"

As the notes show, Givens is 6'3". His brother, the suspect, is 5'5".

Slager was charged this week with murder for shooting and killing Walter Scott, 50, last weekend after a traffic stop. Bystander video from the scene shows Scott was running away from the officer when he was shot.

Givens shook his head when the AP asked him about Slager being charged with murder for the death of Walter Scott.

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"It could have been prevented," he said of Scott's death. "If they had just listened to me and investigated what happened that night, this man might be alive today."