One of the attorneys representing a white police officer whose voluntary manslaughter trial ended with a hung jury says the North Carolina attorney general should forgo pursuit of a mistrial. “We can hope the attorney general looks at that and says, ‘We gave it our best shot”.
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Willie Ferrell (brother of killed Jonathan Ferrell) stands in downtown Charlotte, NC in a “die in” protest of his brothers death. Ferrell, 24, was unarmed. But true to form, Kendrick says he fired because Ferrell was trying to take his gun. On Friday, Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin declared a mistrial with the jury deadlocked 8-4 to acquit the officer.
Michael Greene, who teamed with Laughrun in defending Kerrick, said he only retried one case in his time as a prosecutor in Mecklenburg County, and that was because a juror knew the defendant in the case. The video shows Ferrell calmly approaching Kerrick and two other officers until the light from a Taser’s laser sight appears on his chest, at which point he runs off camera. The resident called police, and three officers responded. They believe there was a sense of justice in the case, referring to what Kerrick had to “go through”. But Talley did not offer a timetable on when a decision on a new trial will be made.
Friday night, Kerrick trial protests took a violent turn in uptown. “It’s a process”. Still, he said that the responsibility of that death lies squarely on Kerrick’s shoulders. “That’s justice”, he said. “Just because it’s not the result you wanted does not mean it is not justice”.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer Randall Kerrick had faced up to 11 years in prison.
Greene said there was “never any question” that Kerrick would testify.
Prosecutors said nonlethal force should have been used to subdue Ferrell, a former Florida A&M football player, in September 2013.
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.
Laughrun had no comment on the mistrial as he left the courtroom.
“Honestly, we have exhausted every possibility”, the foreman said.
The Ferrell family has already settled a lawsuit with the city of Charlotte, receiving $2.25 million. They pointed out that he’s never called them. Given the civil settlement and the outcome of the criminal case, Laughrun said Monroe owes taxpayers further explanation into the reasons and evidence behind Kerrick’s arrest.
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But Raffe said he was swayed by testimony that Kerrick had been instructed earlier by a supervisor that if one officer draws a Taser, a backup officer should pull his gun. As a witness, Little struggled to remember details and contradicted himself on several occasions. “Those who call him a racist killer are wrong too”, he said.
