It is obvious by now that the Scott family wasn’t going to receive any justice in the death of their love one, Walter Scott who was shot in the back by former South Carolina cop Michael Slager. A jury consisting of 11 whites and 1 black man, who coincidentally had his own baggage going into the trial that wasn’t known to the public until after the trial. Dorsey Montgomery, the jury foreman then was facing a felony criminal charge himself but mysteriously was able to get on this particular jury.
Dorsey Montgomery was previously charged with stealing $2,000-$10,000 from a retail establishment as an employee and facing a felony conviction.His criminal charges was dropped soon after he was picked to be a juror. Coincidence?
While potential jurors are asked if they have ever been convicted of a crime, Montgomery could easily answer to the negative but that alone should have precluded him from serving on Slager’s murder trial.
Dorsey was picked from a pool of registered voters to be the person given the responsibility to be the voice of reason as a jury foreman in one of the biggest high-profile trials in America. One might ask how could something like this happen? Were prosecutors complicit in assuring that Dorsey Montgomery serve
Montgomery was also the only juror who said he had not known about the case or watched an eyewitness video that showed Slager shooting Scott in the back as he ran.
During “voir dire” questioning, a process to see if a potential juror is qualified to serve, Montgomery should have been eliminated from the pool of potential jurors. He had too much to gain by being on this jury and his criminal defense in his own personal matter had to know the value in him serving on one of the biggest trials of 2016. Do we know for fact that there wasn’t any behind the scenes negotiations or a promise for Montgomery’s own problems to disappear if he could sway those leaning for a conviction to go the other direction?
Charleston Prosecutor Scarlet Wilson released the following statement after Montgomery’s past became public:
“All parties were aware of his charges. Our team was not involved in or aware of the resolution.”
We doubt that the same office that is prosecuting Michael Slager would not be aware or have knowledge of the outcome of Dorsey Montgomery’s criminal prosecution. With these turn of events, it is not likely that the Scott family will receive any justice for the senseless killing of Walter Scott.
A special federal prosecutor just might be needed in any future prosecution of Michael Slager.
