http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/22/us/charlotte-trial-jonathan-ferrell-police-officer-randall-kerrick.html?_r=0
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A mistrial was declared Friday in the trial of a white police officer in the 2013 shooting death of an unarmed African-American man.
The decision by Judge Robert C. Ervin came hours after jurors had said they were deadlocked but were urged to continue deliberating in an effort to reach a verdict.
The officer, Randall Kerrick, was accused of using excessive force in the shooting of Jonathan Ferrell, 24, a former college football player who died early on Sept. 14, 2013.
Judge Ervin brought the jury of eight women and four men back into the courtroom shortly after 4 p.m., and the foreman said he saw no possibility of reaching a verdict. Jurors told the judge earlier that the three votes they had taken were split — 7 to 5, 8 to 4 and 8 to 4 — but they gave no indication of which way they are leaning.
“Honestly, we have exhausted every possibility,” the foreman said, according to The Associated Press.
Mr. Ferrell, 24, had wrecked his car on a dark stretch of road and walked to a house in eastern Charlotte when the homeowner triggered the burglary alarm and called 911. Three police officers arrived soon after. Immediately upon seeing Mr. Ferrell in the dark, one officer fired his Taser and missed. Officer Kerrick then opened fire, hitting Mr. Ferrell 10 times and killing him.
The fatal shooting in eastern Charlotte occurred amid the beginning of the national debate over the deaths of young black men that followed the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012, but preceded the deaths of black men at the hands of law officers in Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore, North Charleston, S.C., Staten Island and other places.
During his instructions to the jury, Judge Ervin said that the verdict hinged not only on whether they decide that Officer Kerrick was acting in self-defense but also on whether they think that the officer “believed it to be necessary” to kill Mr. Ferrell in order to protect himself or someone else.
Officer Kerrick, who was suspended without pay, testified that he had no choice but to shoot because he thought Mr. Ferrell might try to take his gun.
The lead defense lawyer, George V. Laughrun II, argued in his closing argument that Mr. Ferrell, who had just walked barefoot from the wreckage of his fiancée’s Toyota Camry to a nearby subdivision, intended to commit a crime. He showed jurors the white front door of Sarah McCartney’s house, which had several small dents. Mrs. McCartney, the homeowner, testified that Mr. Ferrell had kicked the door, prompting her to call 911. When the police found Mr. Ferrell walking down a nearby road, Mr. Laughrun said, “it was because he was looking for some other place, some other victim maybe.”
Prosecutors rejected that characterization. “They want to demonize this young man,” said Deputy Attorney General Arden Harris.
“It’s easy to write that person off when you can demonize them and say they were up to no good,” Mr. Harris said. “There’s nothing further from the truth.”