CHARLOTTE -- CMPD Officer Randall Kerrick was questioned by prosecutors in his second day on the stand in his voluntary manslaughter trial. He is charged in the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell.
The officer first took the stand in his own defense on Thursday, and his testimony on Friday began with his reasoning on why the dash cam from his cruiser was not turned on.
Kerrick said that he turned off the camera, because his focus was on the breaking and entering call and it was his common practice to turn it off if there wasn't going to be an encounter with a suspect. He also said he turned off his lights and siren when arriving on-scene in order to not scare away Ferrell.
The State questioned Kerrick about the policy of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Policy Department, which has a policy saying the camera should stay on until the encounter is over. The officer said he was in a “fight for his life” and apologized for inconsistencies in his testimony on Friday compared to his statement after the shooting.
The State later questioned Kerrick's credibility by going through Kerrick's initial interview with detectives after the shooting. At one point, Teresa Postell, an Assistant Attorney General with the NC Department of Justice’s Criminal Appellate Section, rolled her eyes while Kerrick answered one of her questions. There were a few heated exchanges, but he maintained his cool throughout cross examination.
There were some discrepancies about when Kerrick gave verbal commands and whether he said Ferrell reached for his gun or actually grabbed it. At the time of the shooting, Kerrick testified that he had every reason to believe Ferrell was armed. The State questioned why he didn't have time to reholster his weapon that night and use a non-deadly method of force.
Kerrick answered every question from the State with a polite "yes ma'am" or "no ma'am." He testified that initial interview was done just hours after he fought for his life and apologized for what he believes are minor differences in his story. Kerrick maintained he was justified in using deadly force, saying Ferrell was coming at him intending to hurt him.
"He could have walked up to me, or sat on the rock or stopped when I told him to stop or got on the ground when I asked him to get on the ground," said Kerrick.
Multiple people took the stand Friday afternoon to describe the shooting scene, including Officer William Parks. Officer Parks described why his dash camera wasn't recording at the scene of the shooting, stating that his camera was full.
They testified that Officer Kerrick told them he'd been hit in the face and Kerrick looked upset and pale. Jurors also watched the video of Officer Adam Neal's interview with detectives just hours after the deadly shooting. He was the third officer on the scene and the only one who had a dashcam recording the incident.
On Thursday, Kerrick described the night he encountered Ferrell, pulling his service weapon after another officer unsuccessfully pulled a Taser on Ferrell.
“I was [afraid that he was] going to assault me. He was going to take my gun from me,” said Kerrick.
The prosecution says the shooting was excessive. Kerrick said he had been told previously by superiors to pull his service weapon as a back-up if another officer had pulled out their Taser. Kerrick testified that although he fired 12 shots at Ferrell, he did not think any of them were hitting Ferrell or that he was dying.
The state said an officer cannot fire their weapon just because a person charges Kerrick responded saying he did not know if the “suspect" armed.
Lawyer Monroe Whitesides said Kerrick's emotions might play to his favor. However Ferrell's brother said he can't rest while innocent people get shot.