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CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The latest in the case of a former South Carolina police officer charged with killing an unarmed black motorist. All times local:
8 p.m.
A Charleston County sheriff's spokesman has confirmed that Michael Slager, the former North Charleston police officer charged with murder in the shooting of a black motorist has posted bond and has been released from custody.
Slager will remain under house arrest until his trial later this year. A state judge on Monday ordered that jury selection in the case will begin on Halloween.
Sheriff's Department spokesman Eric Watson says Slager was released about 7 p.m. He released a statement saying the county detention center staff has prematurely posted on its website earlier that Slager has been released when in fact he was still in jail custody.
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7:30 p.m.
Officials say the former police officer charged with murder in the death of an unarmed driver running from a traffic stop has been released from a South Carolina jail.
The Charleston County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter that Michael Slager made bond and was released from jail at 7 p.m. Monday.
A judge granted Slager a $500,000 surety bond at a hearing Monday afternoon.
Slager, a former North Charleston police officer, is shown on cellphone video firing eight times as Walter Scott ran from a traffic stop last April.
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6:45 p.m.
An attorney for the family of a slain South Carolina motorist is urging the Charleston community to remain calm after a judge set bond for the ex-police officer charged with killing the man.
Justin Bamberg, an attorney for the family of Walter Scott, said damaging property or hurting innocent people would do nothing to help Scott's family or affect the trial process, but would only get the perpetrators arrested.
Michael Slager, a former North Charleston police officer, is charged with shooting Scott as Scott was running from a traffic stop last April. Slager is shown on cellphone video firing eight times. A judge set bond for Slager on Monday.
Attention over the case and the bystander's cellphone video enflamed a national debate about how blacks are treated by white police officers.
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6:10 p.m.
Deputies in Charleston County, South Carolina, say an ex-police officer charged with murder remains in their custody, even though their jail records indicated he had been released on bail.
The Charleston County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter that Michael Slager was not released from jail, even though their records said he had been let go about 20 minutes earlier.
The website for the jail said Slager was released at 5:23 p.m. Monday. The website was later updated to say he was booked back in the jail at 5:51 p.m.
A sheriff's spokesman did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press asking to explain the discrepancy.
A judge granted Slager a $500,000 surety bond at a hearing Monday afternoon.
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5:50 p.m.
The former police officer charged with murder in the death of an unarmed driver running away from a traffic stop has been released from a South Carolina jail.
Online records from the Charleston County jail show Michael Slager was released at 5:23 p.m. Monday, about an hour after a judge allowed him to be let out of jail on a $500,000 surety bond.
Slager's lawyer renewed the request for bail after Circuit Judge Clifton Newman set an Oct. 31 trial date. Prosecutors opposed bail, saying Slager remained a danger to the community and a flight risk.
Slager was charged after a video showed him shoot Walter Scott several times in the back as Scott ran from a North Charleston traffic stop in April.
Scott's family also opposed bail, but after the hearing asked the community to remain calm.
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5 p.m.
A judge says former police officer Michael Slager will have to remain in South Carolina once he is released on bond.
Circuit Judge Clifton Newman in Charleston on Monday allowed a $500,000 surety bond for Slager. Newman also set an Oct. 31 trial date.
Slager, a former North Charleston police officer, is shown on cellphone video firing eight times as Walter Scott ran from a traffic stop last April.
Newman said he was troubled that Slager's trial would be delayed. The prosecutor in Slater's case is also prosecuting Dylann Roof, the white suspect in the killings of nine black parishioners at a Charleston church, in a July trial. She said a state Supreme Court order protects her from trying other cases before that one.
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4:30 p.m.
A state judge has approved bail for a former South Carolina police officer charged with killing an unarmed black motorist.
Circuit Judge Clifton Newman in Charleston on Monday allowed a $500,000 surety bond for Michael Slager. Newman also set an Oct. 31 trial date.
Attorneys for Slager, who is white and charged with murder in the shooting death of Walter Scott last April, had said they would be ready for trial this spring.
Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson is also prosecuting Dylann Roof in the Charleston AME church shootings in a July trial and said a state Supreme Court order protects her from trying other cases before that one.
Slager, a former North Charleston police officer, is shown on cellphone video firing eight times as Scott ran from a traffic stop.
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8:30 a.m.
A state judge is hearing a speedy trial request by a former South Carolina police officer charged with killing an unarmed black motorist.
Attorneys for Michael Slager, who is white and charged with murder in the shooting death of Walter Scott last April, say they'll be ready for trial this spring.
Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson says the trial should be held next November at the earliest.
Circuit Judge Clifton Newman holds a Monday hearing on the matter.
Wilson is prosecuting Dylann Roof in the Charleston AME church shootings in a July trial and says a state Supreme Court order protects her from trying other cases before that one.
Slager, a former North Charleston police officer, is shown on cellphone video firing eight times as Scott ran from a traffic stop.
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