Bernard Bailey, 54
Orangeburg, South Carolina
April 02, 2011
Agencies: South Carolina Law Enforcement Division SLED | Eutawville Police Department South Carolina
Last updated: 8 months ago
Overview 
The case is one of several police killings of black men across the country that have sparked protests and renewed a civil rights movement under the banner of "Black Lives Matter."
Bailey was killed when he visited town hall to speak with Combs about the traffic ticket.
Instead, prosecutors said, Combs tried to serve Bailey with an arrest warrant for obstructing justice during his daughter's stop, where Bailey was present.
Combs tried to prevent Bailey from driving away after their argument, firing three shots that struck Bailey in the chest, abdomen and head, prosecutors said.
The defense argued that Combs feared he would be run over and was in reasonable fear for his life.
Legal Action
April 2014 Claim settlement $400,000
Eutawville Police Chief Richard Combs was charged with murder after fatally shooting Bernard Bailey, an unarmed black man. After two trials and two deadlocked juries, a plea deal reached with prosecutors sentenced Combs to home detention.
Additional Resources:
- http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/04/3599718/today-in-south-carolina-a-white-ex-cop-was-indicted-for-shooting-a-black-man/ added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/01/436703742/former-police-chief-in-s-c-sentenced-to-house-arrest-over-unarmed-mans-death added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/14/south-carolina-former-police-chief-faces-retrial-death-black-man added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/9/3/1418033/-After-shooting-killing-an-unarmed-black-man-South-Carolina-police-chief-gets-outrageous-plea-deal added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140429/PC16/140429313 added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/Article/74635/arbitrary-police-punishments-detentions-killings-torture-extra-judicial-punishments-summary-executions-of-people-of-african-descent-1982-2015 added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/s-c-police-chief-charged-murder-2011-shooting-unarmed-man-n261541 added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.buzzfeed.com/salvadorhernandez/murder-charge-dropped-against-south-carolina-cop-in-2011-sho#.ktdY09pea added Mar 21, 2016
- http://mashable.com/2015/09/01/white-police-chief-home-confinement/#NXf.PeY4fsq3 added Mar 21, 2016
- http://thefreethoughtproject.com/police-chief-sentenced-house-arrest-killing-unarmed-man-town-hall-parking-lot/ added Mar 21, 2016
- http://thetandd.com/news/eutawville-bailey-family-settle-lawsuit-for/article_5b040536-cfba-11e3-983c-001a4bcf887a.html added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alton-b-pollard-iii/bernard-bailey-a-conseque_b_6699320.html added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-south-carolina-murder-idUSKCN0JI1UX20141204 added Mar 21, 2016
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHkJGTDMylA added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20141204/PC16/141209765 added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.cbsnews.com/news/richard-combs-white-police-chief-south-carolina-plea-deal-shooting-narmed-black-man/ added Mar 21, 2016
- http://abcnews4.com/archive/basic-timeline-the-death-of-bernard-bailey added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article33213873.html added Mar 21, 2016
- http://bigstory.ap.org/article/54fe4eeb73004df28b836a63ec831f49/latest-no-prison-ex-chief-black-mans-death added Mar 21, 2016
- http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/12/16/police-accountabilitysouthcarolina.html added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3132294/Mistrial-case-ex-South-Carolina-police-chief.html added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.newsweek.com/murder-charge-dropped-against-former-south-carolina-police-chief-death-unarmed-367820 added Mar 21, 2016
- http://operation-nation.com/?p=59 added Mar 21, 2016
- http://legacy.wltx.com/story/news/2015/09/01/murder-charge-dropped-against-ex-police-chief/71529214/ added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/14/us/ex-police-chief-richard-combs-bernard-bailey-south-carolina.html?_r=0 added Mar 21, 2016
- http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/Traffic-ticket-led-up-to-shooting-murder-indictment-of-former-Police-Chief-284842141.html added Mar 21, 2016