Dorsey Montgomery, the jury foreman during the trial of former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager is now involved in a new controversy. The judge declared a mistrial after the jury stated they could not reach a decision on murder or manslaughter charges that would have sent Slager to prison for life. During the tense deliberations, a note was sent to the judge from a juror who declared in part “I cannot in good conscience consider a guilty verdict. I cannot and will not change my mind.” The media reported the story as if one person was holding up the process, however, Montgomery revealed that half the jury was divided.
It has been recently revealed that Dorsey was facing criminal charges of breach of trust with fraudulent intent. According to a representative of the Charleston County Clerk of Court’s office, he was accused of stealing between $2,000 and $10,000. Despite this fact, Montgomery was allowed to serve on the jury and during the trial, all charges against him were dropped. According to Charleston Prosecutor Scarlet Wilson, “All parties were aware of his charges. Our team was not involved in or aware of the resolution.” Her office could make no further comment on the charges.
“So I had a past. I was working at another place. I was discounting items, trying to help individuals in my ignorance. And so I didn’t do it the right way. And so because I didn’t do it the right way, I broke the law. … That is resolved. There were no shenanigans. As they tried to say that me and the solicitor had a deal going on the side, all that is false information. None of that happened,” Montgomery told a local media outlet.
Local law enforcement has not publically released any details or an incident report on the breach of trust investigation that led to charges against Montgomery.
