Keith Lamont Scott killing: No charges against officer, DA says

If carrying a concealed weapon makes one a threat, then America is geared for slaughter on the streets.

MB3-org.com

Charlotte, North Carolina (CNN)The officer who fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott won’t face charges, a prosecutor said Wednesday, closing a two-month investigation into the killing that led to heated protests and divided the city of Charlotte.

Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray said he didn’t reach the decision alone; a total of 15 prosecutors unanimously agreed that Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Brentley Vinson was justified in shooting Scott on September 20 in an apartment complex parking lot.

In his hour-long announcement, Murray refuted a series of “erroneous claims” made shortly after the shooting. He said those narratives fueled widespread misconceptions about what actually happened.

Among them:

— Scott’s relatives said he didn’t have a gun, but “all the credible evidence” led to the conclusion that Scott was armed, Murray said. He said Scott’s DNA was on the grip of a gun found at the scene.

Murray also said at least…

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The Killing of Keith Lamont Scott

Subtitled; How Charlotte–Mecklenburg Chief of Police Kerr Putney Has Messed Up.

The citizens of Charlotte, North Carolina, have no trust in Putney’s inconsistent representations.

There are times when it’s best to be quiet rather than exert one-side of a story to the public. Putney has shown that he accepts whatever his officers say and therefore, cannot be any part of an impartial investigation.

Keith Lamont Scott

Keith Lamont Scott was killed on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina.  There are so many conflicting points of view and reports that they make the head spin.

On September 22, 2016, Keith’s family was shown dash cam video.  The attorney for the family stated that the video shows that Keith was walking with both arms at his side, and no gun present.   Police Chief Kerr Putney refused to release the dash cam video to the public.

Keith’s wife took cell phone video and released it to the public yesterday.  News sources and social media arm-chair sleuths gave their opinions on what the video shows.  There was lots of jumping to conclusions because the cell phone video shows an officer standing at the passenger side window of a truck.  Some analyzing that video said that the officer would have been able to see that Keith was holding a gun by standing at that window of Keith’s truck.

Now, we learn that the officer was not standing at Keith’s truck, but he was standing at a truck parked on the opposite side of the street from where Keith was parked.

On the cell phone video, we hear an officer shouting for Keith to put down the gun.  On the dash cam video, Keith comes out of his truck and walks backwards with both arms at his side.  His hands are holding nothing.

It has not yet been explained how a person sitting in a car is to drop a gun when putting it out of the window can lead to the same assumption that it is being pointed with intent to fire.

Justice for Jonathan Ferrell – Closing Arguments

We are following the trial of Randall (Wes) Kerrick the Charlotte/Mecklenburg police officer charged with voluntary manslaughter in the killing of unarmed Jonathan Ferrell.

Closing arguments are scheduled for today.  It will be live streamed. I’ve found conflicting times.  Court Chatter has their live stream scheduled for 8:30 a.m.  A news source reports that closing arguments are scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. EST.

The link to court chatter is http://www.courtchatter.com/#!randall-kerrick-trial-stream-1/c6ga. 

Some live streams have horrible sound, so I will continue to look to see if other sources are live streaming.  If anyone else finds another source, please post the link in comments.

Justice for Jonathan Ferrell – Kerrick’s Trial – Prosecution Rests

Suspended without pay, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Randall (Wes) Kerrick is on trial for killing unarmed Jonathan Ferrell in September 2013. He is charged with voluntary manslaughter and if convicted, faces up to 11 years in prison.

Captain Mike Campagna

Yesterday, the prosecution rested with a powerful witness. Captain Mike Campagna of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department testified. Captain Campagna formerly handled training for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

Captain Campagna began his testimony by showing the jury how a taser works and when officers should and should not use it.

$2.25 Million to the Family of Jonathan Ferrell

The City of Charlotte, North Carolina, has agreed to a settlement with the family of Jonathan Ferrell.

Jonathan Ferrell

Jonathan, a 24-year-old former football player at Florida A&M University, wrecked his Toyota Camry in a subdivision northwest of Charlotte sometime after 2 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2013. It is presumed that he went looking for help, as a woman called 911 and reported that someone was knocking and kicking on her door. Jonathan walked away from the house back to his car, and three officers showed up. One officer, Randall Kerrick, pulled his gun and fired 12 shots, 10 of which hit Ferrell. Most recently reported is that the other two officers, both Black, did not draw their weapons.

Georgia Ferrell, Jonathan’s mother, said that the family will now turn their attention to the voluntary manslaughter trial of officer Randall Kerrick. It is scheduled to being July 20, 2015.