Mistrial Declared in North Carolina Trial of Cop Who Killed Unarmed Teen

A judge in North Carolina on Friday declared a mistrial in a police officer’s 2013 killing of unarmed former college football player Jonathan Ferrell.

Judge Robert Ervin urged the jurors to continue deliberations and ask for any exhibits or trial testimony they might need to reach a verdict.

In a note to the judge Friday morning, the jurors said they were deadlocked 8-4, though Ervin did not reveal which way they were leaning.

“Honestly, we have exhausted every possibility”, the foreman said after four days of deliberations where the jurors could not come to an agreement.

“Within moments, about a dozen protesters, whites and blacks, lay down with hands behind their backs and blocked traffic outside the courthouse on Fourth Street, chanting ‘No justice, no peace'”.

If convicted, Kerrick faces up to 11 years in prison. There, police officers were seen on video grasping batons and stopping protesters from entering the covered center.

“There’s relief from the officers”, he said.

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

Jonathan Ferrell’s mother- and the brother that looks so much like him people still mistakenly call him Jonathan- both say they can’t understand the jury’s inability to reach a verdict.

The prosecution said Kerrick changed his story about Ferrell reaching behind his back prior to charging at him. Ferrell was searching for help after a vehicle accident that was so severe, family attorney Chris Chestnut said, that the 24-year-old had to “crawl out the back of the window”, CNN reports.

Officers have been reluctant to comment on the trial with the media, but Hagler said he’d talked to a few of his organization’s members after the mistrial and they “thought the same way I do”.

Davie Hinshaw/AP Kerrick, seen during closing arguments on Tuesday, faced voluntary manslaughter charges.

Defense attorney George Laughrun cited the 106th Psalm, and related it to police officers and their work.

Kerr Putney, Chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said the department “strives for perfection” and said, “this community deserves our best effort”.

Police say Ferrell crashed his vehicle on a dark road outside Charlotte and went to a nearby house and banged on the door seeking help.

As was the case in some other police shootings brought to national attention – such as those of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina; Samuel DuBose in Cincinnati and, most recently, Christian Taylor in Arlington, Texas – the victim was unarmed.

But Kerrick’s attorneys said the officer feared for his life when he shot and killed Ferrell while responding to a breaking-and-entering call.

Kerrick shot Ferrell 10 times during their struggle.

“You could at least view that as a suggestion that getting a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt was going to be a struggle”, he said.

Police later discovered a wrecked auto that Ferrell was driving about 500 yards away.

Kerrick’s defense team did not speak after the judge declared a mistrial.