The second day full of testimony in the voluntary manslaughter trial for CMPD officer Randall Kerrick centered around the pictures of Jonathan Ferrell’s dead and handcuffed body.
Attorneys battled from both sides over the photographs of Ferrell, who was shot by Kerrick 10 times on Sept. 14, 2013. The argument was over whether the pictures were only an attempt to influence jury members or an actual illustration of the crime scene.
Family members of Ferrell, including his mother Georgia Ferrell, left the court room twice while the pictures were being shown on an overhead screen.
Attorney George Laughrun asked that one of the images of Ferrell’s body that was being shown be taken down. Later, co-counsel Michael Greene told Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin that the purpose of the photos were to gain sympathy from the jury, especially when they could see the family members of Ferrell leaving the room.
Greene said the courtroom expected pictures of the man, but that they were too repetitious.
However, lead prosecutor Adren Harris said the many pictures worked to illustrate a different angle of the crime for the jury to view.
The judge did take out several pictures and twice used scissors to cut out Ferrell’s body from an image being viewed.
