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Mistrial declared in case of police officer who killed former college football player Mistrial declared in case of police officer who killed former college football player
(34 minutes later)
A North Carolina judge has declared a mistrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of a white police officer charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of an unarmed black man.A North Carolina judge has declared a mistrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of a white police officer charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of an unarmed black man.
Judge Robert C Ervin declared a mistrial on Friday after four days of deliberations. Ervin brought the jury back into the Mecklenburg County courtroom around 4.10pm and the foreman said he saw no possibility of reaching a verdict. Judge Robert C Ervin declared a mistrial on Friday after four days of deliberations. Ervin brought the jury back into the Mecklenburg County courtroom around 4.10pm. The foreman said they continued to be deadlocked 8-4, and he saw no possibility of reaching a verdict.
“Honestly, we have exhausted every possibility,” the foreman said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Randall Kerrick had faced up to 11 years in prison in the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell, a former Florida A&M football player who had crashed his car and was in search of help.Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Randall Kerrick had faced up to 11 years in prison in the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell, a former Florida A&M football player who had crashed his car and was in search of help.
Prosecutors said the 29-year-old Kerrick used deadly force when he shot and killed Ferrell in September 2013. They say nonlethal force should have been used to subdue the former Florida A&M football player. Two officers with Kerrick didn’t fire their guns. Defense attorney George Laughrun called for the mistrial because jurors had met for 19 hours and were at an impasse. Prosecutors asked Ervin to urge the jury to continue its deliberations.
But Kerrick’s attorneys said the officer feared for his life when he shot and killed Ferrell while responding to a breaking-and-entering call from a home where Ferrell had apparently sought help. Outside the courthouse, a handful of protesters lay down in the middle of the street to protest the decision. Several shouted “No justice, no peace” at members of Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Randall Kerrick’s family as they left the courthouse. They were still in the street an hour later.
Ferrell’s death happened a little less than a year before an unarmed black man in New York and an unarmed 18-year-old black male in Ferguson, Missouri, died after separate violent encounters with police – cases that shined a national spotlight on how police departments treat minorities and sparked calls for widespread reforms. Protests and rioting followed Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson and a grand jury’s refusal to indict the officer. The unrest resumed this week as protesters marked the one-year anniversary of Brown’s death. Kerrick had faced up to 11 years in prison. Prosecutor Adren Harris said officials will review the case and consider whether to retry it.
Protests also followed the deaths of two unarmed black men after encounters with police earlier this year in Baltimore and South Carolina. Officers have been charged in both of those cases. Kerrick’s trial, while packing the courthouse, has drawn little outside attention, perhaps because the officer was arrested and charged about 12 hours after the shooting. Laughrun had no comment on the mistrial as he left the courtroom. Kerrick also said nothing as he exited the courtroom carrying a cardboard box in his left arm, with his wife following him.
Police have said that Kerrick and officer Thornell Little responded to a 911 call from a resident who notified police after Ferrell knocked on the resident’s door early on the morning of 14 September. Jurors made no comments to reporters as they left.
Some of the testimony prior to Kerrick’s appearance focused on training and whether his use of deadly force was necessary. Some witnesses testified that Kerrick told them he was afraid for his life and that he thought Ferrell was going to try to take his gun. Prosecutors said nonlethal force should have been used to subdue Ferrell in September 2013. Two officers with Kerrick didn’t fire their guns.
But Kerrick’s attorneys said the officer feared for his life when he shot and killed Ferrell while responding to a breaking-and-entering call.
The case was one of several in recent years that raised questions about police use of deadly force against black men.
Police say Ferrell wrecked his car on the morning of September 14, 2013, went to a nearby house and banged on the door, apparently for help. The resident called police, and three officers responded. Investigators say one deployed his Taser without apparent effect on Ferrell before Kerrick fired 12 shots, 10 of which hit him.
Kerrick testified that he repeatedly fired because Ferrell kept charging at him and he didn’t think his weapon was even working.
Holding back tears and in a quavering voice, Kerrick re-created the events, at one point yelling “Stop!” and “Get on the ground!” to a nearly packed courtroom
Police training expert Dave Cloutier testified that Kerrick’s decision to shoot Ferrell was consistent with the department’s training.
However, police captain Mike Campagna testified that the shooting violated department policy. He said nonlethal force should have been used to subdue Ferrell.
Kerrick’s attorneys contended Kerrick opened fire because he feared that Ferrell was going to attack him and take his gun.
Officer Adam Neal, who was also at the shooting scene, testified that he never considered pulling a weapon that night and instead viewed the situation as one that would require physical force to restrain the subject.
Defense attorneys targeted Ferrell’s condition at the time of the shooting, pointing to the fact that he had smoked marijuana and drank alcohol before the wreck that led to the deadly confrontation.
The Ferrell family has already settled a lawsuit with the city of Charlotte, receiving $2.25m.
Jeff Welty, an associate professor of law and government at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, said the fact that the first of two grand juries declined to indict Kerrick indicates why a trial — with a higher standard of proof required — would be hard to decide.
“You could at least view that as a suggestion that getting a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt was going to be a struggle,” he said. “Maybe that suggests that the case isn’t going to be an easy one.”
Bowling Green State University criminologist Philip Stinson, who is a former police officer, said he would have expected a mistrial or an acquittal.
“In my research, only a little over 20 percent of the case where an officer is charged with murder or manslaughter resulting from an on-duty shooting results in a conviction.”
Ferrell was killed a little less than a year before an unarmed black man in New York and an unarmed 18-year-old black male in Ferguson, Missouri, died after separate violent encounters with police — cases that shined a national spotlight on how police departments treat minorities and sparked calls for widespread reforms. Protests and rioting followed Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson and a grand jury’s refusal to indict the officer.
Protests also followed the deaths of two unarmed black men after encounters with police earlier this year in Baltimore and South Carolina. Officers have been charged in both of those cases.