Posted on 06/19/2009 6:22:47 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA
A judge ruled Thursday for a second time that prosecutors can get the military records of a pharmacist charged with first-degree murder.
Attorneys for Jerome Jay Ersland have until Wednesday to appeal.
Oklahoma County District Judge Tammy Bass-LeSure ruled June 10 and again Thursday that prosecutors can subpoena Erslands military records.
Ersland served in the Army and Air Force.
Ersland, 57, of Chickasha is accused of going too far when he fatally shot a robber May 19 at Reliable Discount Pharmacy in Oklahoma City. Killed was Antwun "Speedy Parker, 16.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsok.com ...
Anyone not supporting Ersland 100% needs to have their head examined, as I will say it here: THERE IS NO VIDEO OF THE PERP ON THE FLOOR.
Ersland’s activity at the scene is all that needs to be addressed here, and the effort of the prosecution to bring something else seems extremely prejudicial.
They mustn’t have d—k in the way of a case.
>> Ersland has been charged with first-degree murder after shooting Parker once in the head and then firing five more rounds into the teenagers abdomen.
>> Anyone not supporting Ersland 100% needs to have their head examined...
Uh, anyone who continues shooting AFTER they have stopped the threat deserves it. CCW holders beware - ignorance of the law is costly. If Esland shot that much and afterward said to the cops: “He kept coming at me; I was afraid for my life; I thought I’d be killed ...” he would have been cleared.
I don’t see the connection of military records with robbery and protection.
Nor do I.
So if "Speedy" Antwun was properly stopped after the first shot, what would be the charge, improper conduct of a corpse, or improper disposition of a corpse?
People who make arguments in defense of marauding armed and violent men make as much sense as people who advocate giving Miranda Rights to terrorists.
Here is some important background:
http://maggiesnotebook.blogspot.com/2009/06/jerome-jay-ersland-is-pharmicist.html
Two hardened criminals recruited a 16-year-old and a 14-year-old to armed rob the drugstore. The 16-year-old pointed a gun at the pharmacist and two women, and the pharmacist shot him five times.
It would appear that the issue is that the pharmacist continued to shoot after the 16-year-old was down, and probably dead. This is an odd concept in the law, that force can be used to stop a crime, but to continue using lethal force after a criminal is disabled can in itself be a crime.
In any event, the two hardened criminals who precipitated the crime are both charged with first degree murder. However, there is at least a procedural error in charging the pharmacist with first degree murder as well, because there is no indication that he chose the victim, the time or place, and there was no premeditation involved.
So the question becomes, “Did he commit second degree murder?”, which in this case would be homicide in a state of anger.
Alternatively, in some jurisdictions, this would be charged as voluntary manslaughter, under circumstances of “Imperfect Self-Defense”, which is basically using excessive force to defend yourself.
Prosecution probably looking for evidence that Ersland was a "loose cannon" or whatnot while in the service.
I believe the first shot was a head shot, and likely at point blank with a larger caliber handgun. Then, the angle of the bullets likely indicated that the perp was on the floor when shot four other times.
The Judge is black and racist.
He did. He said that after returning to the store after chasing off the accomplice, he went to check on the one that was down. Then he said it appeared the guy was going into his backpack, possibly for a gun. You can't see that on the video tapes, because neither view showed the robber on the floor. Both however do show the pharmacist sort of "starting" or moving quickly to one side, before he started firing again.
I agree with the first comments as well, why should they get access to his military records? At least not until the punishment phase, should he be found guilty.
Now I could see the DEFENSE wanting to see those records, for a number of different, and conflicting, possible reasons.
I meant to add that agrees with something the dead robber's mother said, about him keeping his favorite high tops in the backpack, and that he treated them about like Linus treats his blanket. Of course the pharmacist would have had no way of knowing the kid was going for his security blanket instead of a gun or other weapon. If that is the case.
You could also see that much on the security camera tapes. But what you could not see, was the perp. Being on the floor is not the same as not being a threat. Reclining was one of my father in laws favorite positions for shooting his 1911, and his S&W .357.
This guy has his military records given up, but The Messiah doesn’t have to show his birth certificate?
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