Mistrial declared in Charlotte police shooting trial

If the trial ended in a conviction, Kerrick could have faced 11 years in prison. “I was hoping the jury would come to a verdict and see it the way I thought the evidence was presented – that Officer Kerrick was justified”.

Authorities charged Kerrick with manslaughter hours after the shooting. Kerrick was the only officer who fired his.40-caliber semiautomatic service weapon.

“Honestly, we have exhausted every possibility”, the foreman said. Officials did not say which way the 8-4 vote was leaning.

Prosecutors in the case have not said if they will pursue another trial.

During deliberations on Wednesday, jurors ask to see eight items in private, including the dashcam video, the interviews with officers Kerrick, Thornell Little, Adam Neal, as well as the use of force directive.

Thursday, jurors requested more exhibits: crime scene diagrams, pictures of Kerrick’s injuries, his police academy application essay, a transcript of testimony from Kerrick’s superiors and whether Ferrell was right or left handed.

After the judge instructed them to keep trying to reach a verdict, the jury took a lunch break and has now resumed deliberations.

The case hinges on whether Kerrick used excessive force, or it was reasonable for him to believe Ferrell represented a threat of death or serious injury. He said nonlethal force should have been used to subdue Ferrell.

Officer Randall Kerrick said it was kill or be killed in September of 2013.

The officer, who is white, is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed black man.

The officer’s defense attorney argued at the trial that dents on the home’s door indicated that Ferrell was attempting to force his way into the house, and stressed that he could have injured the officers even though he was not armed. Ferrell walked to a nearby residence to get help, but the woman inside – identified as Sarah McCartney – called the police when she saw the man knocking on her door.

Kerr Putney, Chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said the department “strives for perfection” and said, “this community deserves our best effort”. A training expert also testified that Kerrick’s behavior aligned with police training regiments.

A spokesperson for the Ferrell family said, “Obviously this is a tough day, a heavy day for us”.

Defense attorneys noted that Ferrell had smoked marijuana and drank alcohol before the wreck that led to the deadly confrontation.

The city has already paid out a 2.25 million dollar settlement to Ferrell’s family.

The case is one of several in the United States in which a white police officer has been accused of unjustly shooting an unarmed black man, sparking a national debate on the issue and calls for police reforms.

Protests also followed the deaths of two unarmed black men after encounters with police earlier this year in Baltimore and South Carolina.