S.C. attorney can't leave cop shooting case to represent victims of church massacre

CHARLESTON, S.C., June 16 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Thursday refused a request from a defense attorney for ex-South Carolina police officer Michael Slager to be excused from court in that case, so that he can adequately represent victims of the Charleston church massacre.

Attorney Andy Savage is scheduled to defend Slager in the shooting death of Walter Scott. His trial starts Oct. 31, just a week before the federal trial of accused church gunman Dylann Roof begins.

As some of the hearings will occur simultaneously, Savage will not be able to attend both and had asked the judge in the Roof capital murder case to be formally excused from appearing in any other courts until mid-January, so he can adequately counsel the victims' relatives.

In a filing Wednesday, Savage requested that he be not be scheduled in other courts from Oct. 15 to Jan. 15.

He did so "in consideration of the statutory rights of the victims, in accordance with the wishes of the victims, and with the consent of" prosecutors, he wrote, according to The Post and Courier.

Former North Charleston, S.C., police officer Michael T. Slager is charged with murder in the April 2015 shooting death of motorist Walter L. Scott, Jr., who was shot dead following a traffic stop. His attorney, noted victims' rights advocate Andy Savage, is set to defend him in a trial scheduled for Oct. 31. Photo courtesy North Charleston, S.C., Police Department

The request, if approved, could have moved Slager's trial. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel, however, refused Savage's request on Thursday.

"While the court appreciates counsel's position and respects the rights of victims, comity and respect for the state courts prevents this court from entering such a sweeping order affecting an unknown number of proceedings in other courts," Gergel wrote.

The judge wrote in the order that if Savage wants to be excused from court dates in the Slager case, he should ask the state judge in that court.

Slager is charged with murder in Scott's death, which sparked a national controversy in April 2015 when video of the incident appeared to show Scott unarmed and running away from the officer when he was shot following a traffic stop.

Prosecutors in the Slager case have urged the courts to coordinate the two trials so that Savage can be assured adequate time to represent the families in the Roof case.

"I am very concerned about this situation," prosecutor Scarlett Wilson, who is trying Slager, said Wednesday. "My hope is that the courts will begin coordinating with each other so that both the [church] victims' needs and the Scott family's needs are met in a thoughtful, considerate and expedient way."

Roof, 22, is accused of shooting nine people dead at the historic Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, two months after the Slager shooting. He faces numerous federal counts -- including hate crimes, a firearm charge and civil rights violations. His federal trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 7, and his state trial two months later. Prosecutors in both cases are seeking the death penalty.

Slager is charged with one count of first-degree murder in state court and multiple other charges in federal court.