After seven arduous days of jury selection, opening statements were presented this morning in the trial of former CMPD officer Randall "Wes" Kerrick. Kerrick is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell, an unarmed black man seeking help after a car accident.
As if there were any doubt, the defense's strategy is to blame the victim:
Jonathan Ferrell’s bad choices forced Officer Wes Kerrick to “make the ultimate choice,” a defense attorney told jurors.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/...
More below the fold.
In opening statements this morning,
Defense attorneys said that Jonathan Ferrell made bad decisions, which led to the shooting. After about an hour, the state called Jonathan Ferrell’s sister to the stand as their first witness. After a brief testimony, Ferrell’s fiancé testified. She described her last conversation, which involved a fight about their future.
That defense attorney, Michael Greene,
... portrayed Ferrell in a negative light – having argued with his fiancee earlier that day, smoked marijuana with a friend and behaved aggressively when he knocked on a homeowner’s door after wrecking his fiancee’s car.
Character assassination I expected, but reefer madness? The prosecution
countered sharply:
Jonathan Ferrell began crawling after Officer Wes Kerrick shot him, a prosecutor told jurors, and Kerrick shot him again.
Adren Harris, a special deputy attorney general, painted a harrowing image for jurors of what happened the night Ferrell was killed.
After describing a deeply disturbing scene, Harris addresses the jury:
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, “ Harris said. “Who polices the police when they do wrong? Harris looked at the jurors and said simply: “You.”
Today the
26th Judicial Court released the entire 911 call and transcript from local resident Sarah McCartney, who was home alone with her infant son when Jonathan Ferrell attempted to contact her. Ms. McCartney testified today, along with Ferrell's sister, fiancée, and friends who were with him in the hours leading up to his death.
For the latest updates and local coverage of the trial, please follow #KerrickTrial on Twitter. I will continue to post updates as time permits on this important case.