Note: In a leaked audio recording, Officer Slager can be heard laughing at the “adrenaline rush” he felt after killing Walter Scott. The audio is provided at the bottom of the article that follows.

Dan McCue | Courthouse News Service

Ex-Cop Faces Federal Charges Over S.C. Death

A white,former North Charleston, South Carolina, police officer charged with murder after the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist last year was indicted Wednesday on multiple federal charges.

An indictment unsealed Wednesday morning charges Michael Slager with obstruction of justice, unlawful use of a weapon during the commission of a crime, and depriving the victim, Walter Scott, of his civil rights.

Slager already faced states murder charges in the shooting death of Scott, an incident that became notorious after a bystander video emerged showing the 50 year old being shot eight times in the back as he ran from Slager during a traffic stop in April 2015.

Slager has said what the video doesn’t show is a struggle between the two men in which Scott momentarily had control of the officer’s Taser.

Slager was charged with murder after the video became public. He was also immediately fired by the North Charleston Police Department.

He was held in solitary confinement until January, when a lengthy delay in his trial date caused by scheduling of the murder trial of alleged Charleston church gunman Dylann Roof prompted a state court judge to release him on $500,000 bond, and placed him under house arrest at an undisclosed location.

Slager’s state trial is set to begin this fall, and he faces a possible life sentence without parole.

Prosecutors have asked for the trial to be moved up to August or back to May 2017 to give Solicitor Scarlett Wilson time to prepare for Roof’s trial, which is now set for January.

If convicted on the federal charges, Slager faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for the civil rights violation, as well as a potential $250,000 fine.

Published by Courthouse News Service.

Watch the video below:

Listen to the audio of Officer Slager laughing shortly after the killing occurred: