Kerrick, 29, was charged with using excessive force during a September 2013 encounter with Jonathan Ferrell, 24, a former Florida A&M football player who had wrecked his vehicle on a dark road and was seeking help when he encountered officers.
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Kerrick was one of three police officers who responded to the call.
A second juror said he had one question throughout the trial.
The jury is considering the fate of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Randall Kerrick, who is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell almost two years ago. Video showed police officers formed a line across a street adjacent to the stadium.
The household of Jonathan Ferrell, the person who was shot, held a information convention, calling for a brand new trial and asking the group to react peacefully to the mistrial. Kerrick’s attorneys said the officer feared for his life when he shot and killed Ferrell while responding to a breaking-and-entering call.
When asked if there was there a clear victor as a result of the mistrial, Charlotte School of Law Professor Carol Turowski said defense lawyers like to think that if there is a mistrial and there is not a conviction than it’s a win.
As we noted in our pre-verdict analysis, Officer Kerrick’s decision to fire was reasonable under the circumstances.
According to NBC affiliate WCNC, a protester struck an officer at the Transit Center uptown, a scuffle ensued, and the man was arrested. They have not decided whether to seek a retrial. After the foreperson and jurors agreed that it would not, the state urged the judge to ask them to continue deliberations.
The protesters were inside the courtroom, but took to the streets once the judge declared a mistrial in the voluntary manslaughter trial of Officer Randall Kerrick. The jury said they voted 7 to 5 on Tuesday, 8 to 4 on Thursday and 8 to 4 two different times on Friday.
The city of Charlotte reportedly settled a lawsuit this year for $2.25 million.
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But as the dashcam video of that night clearly shows, Ferrell wasn’t measurably wounded in the auto accident, and was able to go from a walk to a full charge in just steps when he decided to attack Officer Kerrick for reasons that will never be explained. Kerrick was dismissed from the police force upon review of the incident. Immediately upon seeing Ferrell, Little fired his Taser at him. When they arrived on the scene, Ferrell reportedly ran towards the officers, and Kerrick fired twelve times.
