More colleagues to testify in trial over police shooting

The fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer was not consistent with the department’s policy, a captain who reviewed the case testified Tuesday.

Kerrick, who’s charged with voluntary manslaughter in the September 2013 death of former Florida A&M football player Jonathan Ferrell, is suspended without pay from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the State rested in the voluntary manslaughter trial against Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Randall Wes Kerrick.

McCord also said Kerrick’s test results suggested he had a less than 2 percent chance that he would appear in the media for a negative reason. The person in the house called police.

The jury began hearing testimony last week and will decide whether Kerrick used excessive force when he fired 12 shots – eight of them at Ferrel’s fallen body – or whether he was justified because he thought Ferrell posed a deadly threat. That would have freed both of Kerrick’s hands to get Ferrell under control and allow Kerrick to use his baton, pepper spray or Taser instead. Ten hit Ferrell. The defense started its case by calling witnesses to the stand to counter a prosecution witness who spent parts of two days on the stand. “Our investigation has shown that Officer Kerrick did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter”.

The captain said department policy prohibits officers from firing their weapon in instances of “active aggression”, which is an action that doesn’t create the threat of death or serious personal injury. He says CMPD gun holsters have a safety fastener that makes it hard for someone else to take it. In addition, he says CMPD training calls for officers to move away from suspects, but not by going backward as Kerrick told investigators he did.

Campagna says he reviewed the dashcam video as well as Kerrick’s statement and compared them with guidelines established by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.