I was sad to hear a mistrial declared in the case of Jonathan Ferrell whom Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer Randall Kerrick shot 10 times as Ferrell sought help following a car accident in 2013. The deadlocked jury after 4 days of deliberations sadly came as no surprise to me. And as a former prosecutor, I felt anger at the jury and a criminal justice system that often vindicates police killings of unarmed black men and boys. A grand jury indicted Kerrick on voluntary manslaughter for which he stood trial. A civil suit resulted in a $2.25 million settlement. No dispute existed by prosecutors or the defense that Kerrick intended to shoot Ferrell and that Ferrell died as a result of the shooting. The issue remained whether Kerrick shot in self- defense or used excessive force as the prosecution argued. The jury of eight men and four women consisted of 3 African Americans, 2 Latinos and 7 whites. The initial jury vote was 7-5 and the final vote was 8-4 for acquittal. … [Read more...] about How Police Get Away with Killing Unarmed Blacks