Jurors request dashcam video, police policies in N.C. officer's trial
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jurors in the trial of a white North Carolina police officer accused in the shooting death of an unarmed black man asked the judge Wednesday for a list of material they want to review during their deliberations.
Judge Richard C. Ervin said the jury wanted eight items, including dashcam video showing the moments before Officer Randall Kerrick shot and killed Jonathan Ferrell almost two years ago.
The jury also asked to see the video interviews of the three officers who responded to the breaking and entering call that led to the shooting.
Jurors returned to the courtroom and watched the dashcam video twice at regular speed and twice in slow motion.
Kerrick, who is suspended without pay, is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the September 2013 shooting.
Prosecutors say nonlethal force should have been used to subdue Ferrell, a former Florida A&M football player. Two officers with Kerrick didn't fire their guns.
According to CBS affiliate WBTVCBS affiliate WBTV, prosecutor Teresa Postell argued that Kerrick changed his story about Ferrell reaching behind his back prior to charging at him.
"You have two clues about what a reasonable officer would do. You actually have two officers on the scene," Postell said in court. "One of them pulled a taser. The other one even after the taser didn't work was going to go hands on."
But Kerrick's attorneys say the officer feared for his life when he shot and killed Ferrell while responding to a breaking-and-entering call.
Wednesday is the first full day of deliberations for racially diverse jury of eight woman and four men. The trial is in its third week.
On Tuesday, jurors heard closing arguments and began deliberating. The jury foreman asked the judge to read the elements of voluntary manslaughter for a second time.
Georgia Farrell is the dead man's mother. Three days after his death, she talked to CBS News about Officer Kerrick.
"But I forgive him," she said. "I so forgive him, but I do want justice."
Georgia Farrell told CBS News her son always respected police, because his sister is a police officer.