|
 Jurors, who began hearing testimony Aug. 3, will have to decide
whether Randall Kerrick was justified in using lethal force against
24-year-old Jonathan Ferrell in the early hours of Sept. 14, 2013.
Kerrick, 29, was charged with voluntary manslaughter and placed on
unpaid leave from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department the
same day as the shooting. If convicted, Kerrick could face as many
as 11 years in prison.
The case has unfolded against the backdrop of a string of killings
by white police officers of unarmed black men. The deaths have
touched off a nationwide debate on issues of race and its influence
on police conduct.
In the Kerrick case, the jury will have to weigh two drastically
different versions of events, as illustrated by state and defense
attorneys in their closing arguments.
Prosecutors painted Kerrick as an inexperienced officer who
abandoned his training under duress and unnecessarily unloaded his
gun into a man who posed no threat.
Prosecutor Adren Harris accused officers on the scene of assuming
Ferrell was a dangerous criminal.
“They were there to arrest ... and ask questions later,” Harris told
jurors.
“We’re not here to say he is a bad person, but he made a bad
choice,” the prosecutor said, referring to Kerrick.
Defense attorney George Laughrun argued that Ferrell had sealed his
own fate when he failed to comply with Kerrick’s commands to “get on
the ground,” and that Kerrick had no way of knowing at the time
whether Ferrell was armed.
[to top of second column] |
“Choices - that’s what this case is about,” Laughrun said. “Unarmed
is not harmless, and the body can be a weapon.”
Ferrell, a former Florida A&M football player who had recently moved
to Charlotte, wrecked his car on a dark road after an evening out
with friends.
Ferrell went to a nearby house for help, but the young woman who
lived there feared a home invasion and called 911. Three
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers responded. Kerrick testified
last week that Ferrell ran toward him, then landed on him as the two
fell backwards into a drainage ditch.
Kerrick fired 12 shots at point-blank range, hitting Ferrell 10
times. Kerrick testified that Ferrell tried to grab his gun and that
he feared for his life.
(Editing by Frank McGurty and Lisa Lambert)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
