Ex-college football player killed by cop

[Captain Obvious]

A Charlotte police officer shot and killed Jonathan Ferrell, who played football for Florida A&M. Ferrell ran at the officer, even after being Tasered, but didn't have a weapon. Officer charged with voluntary manslaughter. Cop is white, and the victim is black.

What's The Narrative™, so we can all get our stories straight?

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/09/15/4315763/cmpd-officer-charged-in-shooting.html

 

[dooley_womack1]

The player was probably a meth user.

 

[JayFarrar]

A read of the story says the guy who was shot had wrecked his car, banged on a door at a house near the wreck, the woman there called 911 thinking it was a burglar and the guy was likely running to the cops to get help.

It was late and a black man covered in blood running at cops. That's a shooting every time.

 

[BTExpress]

Shot 10 (10!) times. Shot AT 12 times. Somehow "voluntary manslaughter" doesn't do this justice. Closer to grossly exuberant manslaughter.


Other than that, the most curious thing to me is the wreck.

The "street" in which he wrecked is simply a 250-meter entrance to the clubhouse, swimming pool and tennis courts. Because of speed bumps you can't gather any speed --- why would you anyway? --- and there is no "traffic" to speak of. Certainly none at 2 a.m.

I have seen deer in the middle of that street very early in the morning. Perhaps he was trying to avoid one and lost control. Still doesn't explain why, on his way out of the development after dropping off a friend, he would make a right turn onto a dead-end street.

One oddity: The entrance road into the development was moved about a quarter-mile a little more than 2 years ago, and the current one doesn't show up on some older GPS systems. His GPS could have been giving him confusing instructions.

 

[hondo]

Shot 10 (10!) times. Shot AT 12 times. Somehow "voluntary manslaughter" doesn't do this justice. Closer to grossly exuberant manslaughter.


Other than that, the most curious thing to me is the wreck.

The "street" in which he wrecked is simply a 250-meter entrance to the clubhouse, swimming pool and tennis courts. Because of speed bumps you can't gather any speed --- why would you anyway? --- and there is no "traffic" to speak of. Certainly none at 2 a.m.

I have seen deer in the middle of that street very early in the morning. Perhaps he was trying to avoid one and lost control. Still doesn't explain why, on his way out of the development after dropping off a friend, he would make a right turn onto a dead-end street.

One oddity: The entrance road into the development was moved about a quarter-mile a little more than 2 years ago, and the current one doesn't show up on some older GPS systems. His GPS could have been giving him confusing instructions.

But he was arrested and charged. None of that paid leave while on administrative suspension stuff.

 

[Drip]

It's open season on unarmed African-American males.

 

[heyabbott]

It's open season on unarmed African-American males.

since 1654

 

[YankeeFan]

It's open season on unarmed African-American males.

Yep.

This guy was unarmed, and gunned down just a couple of days ago in D.C.:

And, four years ago, his 14-year-old son was gunned down:

http://wapo.st/17FnmP3

 

[Drip]

It's open season on unarmed African-American males.

Yep.

This guy was unarmed, and gunned down just a couple of days ago in D.C.:

And, four years ago, his 14-year-old son was gunned down:

http://wapo.st/17FnmP3

Damn.

 

[YankeeFan]

It's open season on unarmed African-American males.

Here's someone who agrees with you Drip:

An email sent to students by a University of Maryland official that cites the Trayvon Martin shooting as evidence "it is legal to hunt down and kill American children in Florida" is being blasted as the latest evidence of a left-wing bias on campus.

The email, from William Dorland, director of the school's Honors College, starts by welcoming students back to campus, but then quickly veers into politics.

"This year, we learned that it is legal to hunt down and kill American children in Florida," it reads, in a reference to the trial of George Zimmerman, who was cleared of all charges in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The email went out to all students in the Honors College.

http://fxn.ws/16KWFWs

 

[Boom_70]

Wonder what the director has to say about this hunt.

 

[YankeeFan]

Cop indicted:

A grand jury on Monday indicted a white police officer who fired 10 shots into a young black man who had driven off the road in a suburban neighborhood here and was apparently looking for help.

It was the second time a grand jury had heard the case. The first panel, which convened a week ago, did not indict the officer, Randall Kerrick, on voluntary manslaughter charges, but suggested that prosecutors come back with a lesser charge.

Instead, prosecutors presented the same charge to a different group of jurors on Monday. This group indicted Mr. Kerrick on voluntary manslaughter charges in the death of Jonathan Ferrell, 24, a former star football player at Florida A&M who had been dropping off a friend early one morning in September when his car went off the road.

He stumbled up an embankment and knocked on a door. A woman inside, home alone with her infant, called the police in a panic.

Three officers arrived and saw Mr. Ferrell on a road leading to the public pool in a suburban development about 15 miles from downtown Charlotte. Mr. Kerrick fired 12 shots as Mr. Ferrell moved toward the officers.

nyti.ms/1etb6By

 

[Batman]

I'm not a legal expert, so I ask in seriousness, would some type of double jeopardy protection apply to the cop? DA can't get an indictment from one grand jury, so he keeps going to the well until he finds one who goes along? Can he submit the same evidence to a hundred juries until he gets his way?
Whether or not there's merit to the charges, that seems to straddle an ethical line.

 

[User 4332]

I'm not a legal expert, so I ask in seriousness, would some type of double jeopardy protection apply to the cop? DA can't get an indictment from one grand jury, so he keeps going to the well until he finds one who goes along? Can he submit the same evidence to a hundred juries until he gets his way?
Whether or not there's merit to the charges, that seems to straddle an ethical line.

Jeopardy doesn't attach until much later in the process, so it's OK for a prosecutor to send a case before a grand jury multiple times. Jeopardy typically attaches in a felony case once the trial jurors (not the grand jurors) have been seated.

It's highly unusual for a N.C. grand jury to refuse to indict, though. That's likely a sign of weakness in the case.

I would not be surprised if the defense files a pre-trial motion to dismiss based on the first grand jury's refusal to indict, but I would also be surprised if it was granted.

 

[inkstainedwretch2]

One of the greatest sayings in jurisprudence is "Any prosecutor worth his salt can get a ham sandwich indicted." Curious as to why it was necessary to go to a new grand jury. I suspect it will come out before the next election.

 

[User 4332]

That saying is particularly true in N.C., where neither the prosecutor nor the defendant are entitled to put on evidence. In fact, neither are allowed in the jury room. Only the witnesses the prosecutor selects goes into the grand jury room - meaning the only evidence the jury hears is typically what the lead investigating officer tells them. The structure makes it ridiculously easy, in most cases.

 

[britwrit]

12 shots? WTF? Did this cop think he was facing off with Jason Voorhees?