WELL, SHOOT... JUST SHOOT

[HairOfTheDog]

There sure are a lot of fearful cops wearing a badge these days.

Yeah. I don't envy the jurors who have to decide whether Officer Kerrick's response to that fear was reasonable or excessive. The jury started deliberating late yesterday in the manslaughter case.

Almost immediately after beginning their deliberations, the jury asked the judge for a precise definition of voluntary manslaughter.

Judge Robert Ervin brought the jury into the courtroom and read them the part of the jury instruction that includes the definition. Kerrick is not disputing whether he intentionally pulled the trigger, so for jurors, the question that matters most is whether the officer’s response was excessive.

At the defense’s urging, Ervin also instructed jurors that they could take into account Kerrick’s character traits in his application to become a police officer.

This is the gist of the prosecution's closing argument.
-Prosecutor Postell says jurors need to decide what a reasonable police officer would do in Kerrick’s situation.

-She said Kerrick had a variety of other options – less-than-lethal weapons like a Taser and a baton and the ability to use his hands and feet to fight.

-She laid the weapons on the table for jurors and had two CMPD detectives stand up to demonstrate.

-“It was the defendant and all this and two other officers. ... Neither one of those other two officers even unholstered their firearm,” Postell said. “What would a reasonable person do? Go hands on.”

-She showed an image of Kerrick’s injuries and a picture of Ferrell’s autopsy photo. “This is what he did to Jonathan,” she said. “That’s excessive force.”

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/lo...rylink=cpy