--- description: The jury deliberated for 12 hours late Monday title: South Carolina Judge Declares Mistrial in Police Shooting Case image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd25df227b3aa5a90/698779958e060167a8459ade/richard-combs.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mistrial Declared in Case of South Carolina Cop Who Killed Unarmed Black Man by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 13, 2015 12:55 PM CUT  Former Eutawville Police Chief Richard Combs sits with lawyers on the second day of testimony in his trial for the murder of Bernard Bailey in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Jan. 8, 2015. Former Eutawville Police Chief Richard Combs sits with lawyers on the second day of testimony in his trial for the murder of Bernard Bailey in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Jan. 8, 2015.Reuters by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 13, 2015 12:55 PM CUT A judge in South Carolina [declared](http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/27833742/murder-trial-for-former-sc-police-chief-ends-in-mistrial "undefined") a mistrial in the case of a white ex-police chief charged with murder in the killing of an unarmed black man in 2011. The jury deliberated for 12 hours before failing to reach a consensus over the verdict, according to the _Associated Press_. Richard Combs, the former police chief of Eutawville, S.C., shot Bernard Bailey three times outside of the town hall in May 2011. Combs, the small town’s only officer on patrol, said he fired in self defense and that Bailey was attempting to run him over with a truck when he tried to arrest him. Throughout the trial, according to the [New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/14/us/ex-police-chief-richard-combs-bernard-bailey-south-carolina.html "undefined"), state prosecutors attempted to paint Combs as spiteful and was arresting Bailey on a trumped-up charge. The Department of Justice declined to file charges after a yearlong investigation into Bailey’s death, according to [_Bloomberg_](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-08/south-carolina-chief-s-charge-shows-justice-can-transcend-race.html "undefined"). State prosecutors say they will attempt to try Combs again. \[[_AP_](http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/27833742/murder-trial-for-former-sc-police-chief-ends-in-mistrial "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3665237/mistrial-south-carolina-cop-shooting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3665237/mistrial-south-carolina-cop-shooting/"},"headline":"Mistrial Declared in Case of South Carolina Cop Who Killed Unarmed Black Man","datePublished":"2015-01-13T12:55:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:31:23.955Z","description":"Richard Combs, the former police chief of Eutawville, S.C., charged with murder of Bernard Bailey in May 2011","url":"https://time.com/3665237/mistrial-south-carolina-cop-shooting/","keywords":["Crime","justice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd25df227b3aa5a90/698779958e060167a8459ade/richard-combs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd25df227b3aa5a90/698779958e060167a8459ade/richard-combs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Former Eutawville Police Chief Richard Combs sits with lawyers on the second day of testimony in his trial for the murder of Bernard Bailey in Orangeburg","caption":"Former Eutawville Police Chief Richard Combs sits with lawyers on the second day of testimony in his trial for the murder of Bernard Bailey in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Jan. 8, 2015.","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3665237/mistrial-south-carolina-cop-shooting/","name":"Mistrial Declared in Case of South Carolina Cop Who Killed Unarmed Black Man"}}]}] ```