CHARLESTON, South Carolina — A judge declared a mistrial early on Tuesday in the case against a white former South Carolina police chief accused in the shooting death an unarmed black man in 2011, local media reported.
Richard Combs, 38, was charged with murder after shooting Bernard Bailey, 54, in the town hall parking lot in Eutawville, a town of about 300 people southeast of the state capital of Columbia.
Combs’ trial, which began last week, came after deaths involving white police officers and unarmed black men have sparked protests across the United States.
Twelve jurors began deliberating on Monday but could not reach a unanimous verdict, prosecutor David Pascoe told reporters.
Combs shot Bailey on May 2, 2011, in what a prosecutor called “an absolutely senseless act of violence” after Bailey came to speak with the newly appointed police chief about a traffic ticket issued to Bailey’s daughter.
At the town hall, Combs tried to serve Bailey, a former prison guard, with an arrest warrant for obstructing justice that stemmed from Bailey coming to the scene of the earlier traffic stop, Pascoe said during the trial.
After Bailey headed to the parking lot, Combs tried to prevent him from driving away and fired three shots from his gun, striking Bailey in the chest, abdomen and head, Pascoe said.
Combs said he shot Bailey in self-defense.
The former chief testified last Friday that Bailey had shoved him in the parking lot, the New York Times reported. Bailey was then able to start his truck’s engine and, when he put it in reverse, the vehicle struck the left side of Combs’ body, Combs testified.
“I thought I was going to die,” Combs said. “I thought I was going to be run over by the truck.”