Jonathan Ferrell trial jurors shown dashcam footage of fatal police shooting

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/06/jonathan-ferrell-jurors-dashcam-footage

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A forensic pathologist testified in graphic detail on Thursday about the 10 bullet wounds suffered by Jonathan Ferrell, an unarmed black man who was shot dead by a white Charlotte police officer.

Unlike earlier this week, when photos of Ferrell were shown in the Mecklenburg County courtroom where officer Randall Kerrick is being tried for voluntary manslaughter, a deputy turned off the monitor over the witness stand. Only Dr Thomas Owens and the jurors were able to see the autopsy photos.

Ferrell was shot dead in September 2013, while looking for help after a car crash. The case has attracted national attention after a number of similar cases involving the deaths of unarmed African American men at the hands of police.

Kerrick, 28, was charged shortly after the incident. He faces up to 11 years in prison if convicted. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department hired him in 2011 after he had worked as an animal control officer.

Two other officers who were present did not fire and were not charged.

On Wednesday, jurors viewed dashboard camera footage and heard the sounds of the shooting, as the film was shown publicly for the first time. On the video, Ferrell runs out of the camera’s view just before he is shot and Kerrick cannot be seen firing his gun 12 times. But the sound of each shot can be heard, as can the voice of someone yelling “Get on the ground!” three times. Ferrell was hit 10 times.

On Thursday, the monitor was turned off after attorneys for both sides in the case consulted with the judge. Dr Owens said that of the 10 wounds, nine entered Ferrell’s torso. He said the 10th went into Ferrell’s left arm and partially exited it.

Officer Adam Neal returned to the witness stand. He was questioned by the defense about a written statement he gave on the night that Ferrell died. Neal testified that he heard Kerrick tell Ferrell to get down, but that Ferrell was coming at the officer “hard and fast”.

Neal said he saw a Taser fired at Ferrell, but said that either the Taser missed or Ferrell fought through it. He recalled wondering if Ferrell was “on bath salts or mushrooms”.

Neal told prosecutors he did not draw his own weapon and never thought about doing so. He said he would have opted to put Ferrell in a sleeper hold instead.

In the video footage that was viewed on Wednesday, Ferrell is seen in the headlights of Neal’s cruiser as Neal pulls up without using his blue lights or siren. Neal testified that Ferrell was pacing, and Neal saw red laser dots on Ferrell’s chest as another officer aimed his Taser at Ferrell.

As Ferrell runs out of the camera’s view, a voice is heard yelling “Get on the ground!” Four shots are fired, then there is a pause before eight more shots are heard as someone keeps yelling to for Ferrell to get on the ground. After the final shot, a voice yells “Don’t move!”

The audio recording was captured by Neal’s uniform microphone.

Ferrell’s family had seen the footage as part of a wrongful death lawsuit they settled with the city of Charlotte for $2.25m. They showed no reaction to it on Wednesday.

Dashboard footage from Kerrick’s car and the car of a third officer is also expected to be introduced as evidence.

Prosecutors said Kerrick is guilty because he overreacted when he killed Ferrell. Authorities said the officers did not identify themselves and Neal’s video appears to confirm that.

“I heard nothing,” said Neal, who said his only thought was he had five seconds to get the handcuffs on Ferrell after he was stunned by the Taser, which was fired by the third officer. Neal testified he had a gun, Taser and a baton but didn’t think about using any of them.

Neal said he heard three distinct groups of shots. He said Ferrell fell on top of Kerrick after the first group of four shots and made a crawling motion across Kerrick’s legs as the officer fired six more times. Ferrell briefly stopped moving, but when he started crawling again, Kerrick fired twice more.

Neal testified on Wednesday that he did not see Ferrell try to hit Kerrick. In opening statements Monday, Kerrick’s lawyer said Ferrell’s DNA was on the officer’s gun because he tried to grab the weapon as they struggled.

Under cross-examination, a defense attorney had Neal act out what happened as Ferrell fell on Kerrick. Neal said he couldn’t use his gun or Taser at that point because he would have hit Kerrick too. He also agreed that he told investigators that Ferrell looked like he was “amped up” and was in a “zombie state”.

The dashcam video evidence came hours after jurors viewed a photo of Ferrell’s bloody body despite the objections of defense lawyers. The frontal photo of Ferrell, who had been handcuffed in a ditch following the shooting, was taken when detectives finally rolled over his body, more than three hours after he was declared dead.

The officers came to the neighborhood after a woman called 911 and reported a man tried to knock down her door. Authorities said that man was Ferrell, looking for help after crashing his car. The 24-year-old former Florida A&M football player had been in the neighborhood smoking marijuana at a friend’s house and was not familiar with the area, prosecutors said.