Today, a Mecklenburg (NC) County grand jury indicted a former Charlotte Mecklenburg police officer on a charge on voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell.
Jonathan Ferrell
A Mecklenburg grand jury returned the indictment against Police Officer Randall Kerrick after Superior Court Judge Bob Bell ruled earlier in the day that the 18-member panel could hear the case.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/...
This follows last week's refusal by a different grand jury to indict Kerrick. The defense moved to block the second grand jury from hearing the case, but Judge Bob Bell ruled for the prosecution. See my
diary from last night for background on the past week's developments.
According to WSOC-TV in Charlotte:
Channel 9 reporter Mark Becker noticed the prosecutors from the state’s attorney general’s office had promised to bring more witnesses to testify to Monday’s grand jury, and the indictment shows that there were in fact four witnesses Monday -- two from the police department and two from the State Bureau of Investigation. Last week there were only two witnesses.
The state attorney general’s office sent out a brief statement saying that the grand jury has indicted Kerrick.
The video at this link is worth watching. It's not embedded because I couldn't get it off autoplay.
The indictment was handed down just before 4:00pm EST.
Minutes later, in her lawyer’s office in SouthPark, the dead man’s mother and brother preached patience, and divine inevitablity.
“God’s will must be done,” Georgia Ferrell said on her reaction to the indictment. “That’s the first thing that popped into my head.”
But not the last.
“We are going to keep praying, not just for us, but for everyone involved in this case,” she said.
Asked if that included Kerrick and his family, Ferrell replied, “Of course, it does.”
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/...
Disclaimer: Please note that this case is extremely complicated, and I am neither a lawyer nor a professional journalist. My intention is to get more eyes on an important case that happened in my own community, that has become a national story with implications for every American. All quoted material is linked. I encourage those interested to see the full text and accompanying videos for greater perspective. Expert commentary and constructive criticism are always welcome!
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