Jury Selection Begins In The Randall Kerrick Trial

Kerrick was charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of ex-FAMU football player Jonathan Ferrell.

Police charged Kerrick, 29, with voluntary manslaughter within hours of the shooting. While prosecutors say it was obvious Ferrell was not armed, Kerrick’s defense attorneys say that wasn’t clear.

Shaun Corbett said watching television coverage of the reaction to a grand jury’s decision not to indict a police officer in the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson convinced him to do something to prevent violence in Charlotte.

The Charlotte case was set in motion at about 2:30 a.m. on September 14, 2013.

The homeowner thought he was a robber and called 911. One question asked: Given incidents in other cities where white officers shot unarmed black men “do you have any strong feelings, positive or negative toward police?” When Charlotte-Mecklenburg police arrived on the scene responding to calls from individuals in the neighborhood, Ferrell ran towards them for help.

Watch Roland Martin, Attorney Monique Pressley, The Pressley Firm PLLC, Avis Jones DeWeever of the Exceptional Leadership Institute for Women, Catalina Byrd, Media Consultant/Political Strategist, and WCNC’s Richard DeVayne, reporting from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg court-house, discuss the Randall Kerrick trial in the video clip above. Of the three officers who responded, only Kerrick fired his gun, hitting Ferrell 10 times.

One defense attorney, Michael Greene, told Ervin prosecutors have described Ferrell as an “unarmed black man” looking for help. “Shoot me”.

“I think they’re going to try to profile Jonathan as an mad black man, as a thug, but they can’t”, he said.

The city of Charlotte agreed to settle an civil suit with Ferrell’s family for $2.25 million in May.