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Documents: Attorneys for Randall Kerrick ask for case to be thrown out

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Only Channel 9 has obtained documents asking for the case against a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer accused of shooting and killing an unarmed man to be thrown out.

PDF: Documents filed by Kerrick's attorney to throw out case (Part 1)

The defense said that the state failed to preserve evidence in the case.

SPECIAL SECTION: Jonathan Ferrell

Randall Kerrick's attorneys are asking the judge to throw out the charges against him because evidence that could be crucial to their case has been destroyed -- specifically, samples of Jonathan Ferrell's blood that the defense wanted to test for some specific drugs.

PDF: Documents filed by Kerrick's attorney to throw out case (Part 2)

The motion said that several witnesses, including two other police officers said Ferrell was acting very erratically just before the shooting and that he was in "like a zombie state." 

TIMELINE: Police detail of events in officer-involved shooting

A state autopsy on Ferrell's body after the shooting revealed no alcohol or drugs in his system, but in their motion Kerrick's attorneys said that test did not specifically include tests for THC, LSD or other hallucinogens. It did test for bath salts and synthetic marijuana.

They said that police sent some of Ferrell's blood off to have it examined by an independent laboratory, but did not ask that laboratory to keep that blood sample even though they knew it would be destroyed after six weeks.
       
Now Kerrick's attorneys said there's not enough blood left for them to have an independent test for those drugs and they said that is critical to his defense in the upcoming trial in July.

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