"Make My Day" Case Stirs Serious Debate

[Jered]

OKLAHOMA CITY — Confronted by two robbers, pharmacist Jerome Ersland pulled a gun, shot one in the head and chased the other away. Then, in a scene recorded by the drugstore's security camera, he went behind the counter, got another gun and pumped five more bullets into the wounded one, a teenager, on the floor.

In Oklahoma.

And of course, here's the obligatory quote from the NAACP:

Anthony Douglas, president of the Oklahoma chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called it an "execution-style murder" and praised the district attorney for bringing charges. Ersland is white; the two suspects were black.

[Rod]

I'm kinda with the NAACP on this one. This wasn't a combat zone, that wasn't an enemy combatant, and he was no longer a threat. I was trained that you "stop the threat". The guy was fine in every respect until he went back to finish the job. The groundswell to defend the shooter is only going to provide ammunition to our enemies.

[HTRN]

The pharmacist has been charged with first degree murder, and is currently out on bail. The death penalty may be applied if he's convicted.

Ersland claims that the teen that was shot in the head was getting back up. If it's true, considering that they'd already taken shots at him, I'd say it's self defense. If it's as the prosecution claims, that he pumped 5 rounds from his Keltec into the unconscious kid, then it's Murder 2..
Anybody manage to find the security footage?


HTRN

[Jered]

The pharmacist has been charged with first degree murder, and is currently out on bail. The death penalty may be applied if he's convicted.

Ersland claims that the teen that was shot in the head was getting back up. If it's true, considering that they'd already taken shots at him, I'd say it's self defense. If it's as the prosecution claims, that he pumped 5 rounds from his Keltec into the unconscious kid, then it's Murder 2..
Anybody manage to find the security footage?


HTRN

It's right here.

It's kind of hard to tell what happened from the footage.

[Darrell]

Xavier talked about this a few days ago:

http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/2009 ... urder.html

As far as I'm concerned, you violate the social compact, your life is forfeit. No doubt the dude will be nailed for murder, though. There are three videos, one raw footage, the second interviews with citizens, the third video shows a second camera view of the robbery and the pharmacist's actions. I have to say, it looks like he did pretty much execute the guy...

From the comments:

This just in: felony murder charges against the other perps.

http://newsok.com/da-files-additional-m ... tory_title

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater files additional murder charges in pharmacy shooting Prosecutors today charged two adults and a 14-year-old boy with first-degree murder in connection with the death of a teen killed in a May 19 robbery attempt.

Emanuel Dewayne Mitchell, 31; Anthony Devale Morrison, 42; and Jevontia Ingram, 14, now face murder charges in the shooting death of 16-year-old Antwun Parker. Parker was killed by pharmacist Jerome Jay Ersland during an attempted robbery of Reliable Discount Pharmacy, 5900 S Pennsylvania Ave.

[Netpackrat]

I watched the video a couple days ago, and while it looks really bad, you can't see what the downed perp may have been doing that got him shot again.

[mekender]

im up in the air on this one... that the other perps got charged with the felony murder may mean that the ME decided that the head shot was fatal but not immediately so...

or that the DA doesnt feel that they can get a 1st degree conviction out of the pharmacist...

the video is pretty damning... the guy does not appear to be threatened when he turns his back and walks to get a second gun... but i wasnt there...

[randy]

If I understand the Felony Murder principal correctly, they were co-conspirators/participants in a felony, and someone died as the result of said felony. Who died and how they died/who killed them is not relevant.

IOW, the final determination of the Pharmacist's case is separate from the felony murder issue.

[Jered]

Xavier talked about this a few days ago:

http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/2009 ... urder.html

As far as I'm concerned, you violate the social compact, your life is forfeit. No doubt the dude will be nailed for murder, though. There are three videos, one raw footage, the second interviews with citizens, the third video shows a second camera view of the robbery and the pharmacist's actions. I have to say, it looks like he did pretty much execute the guy...

From the comments:

This just in: felony murder charges against the other perps.

http://newsok.com/da-files-additional-m ... tory_title

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater files additional murder charges in pharmacy shooting Prosecutors today charged two adults and a 14-year-old boy with first-degree murder in connection with the death of a teen killed in a May 19 robbery attempt.

Emanuel Dewayne Mitchell, 31; Anthony Devale Morrison, 42; and Jevontia Ingram, 14, now face murder charges in the shooting death of 16-year-old Antwun Parker. Parker was killed by pharmacist Jerome Jay Ersland during an attempted robbery of Reliable Discount Pharmacy, 5900 S Pennsylvania Ave.

Do they have any evidence that he was alive when the pharmacist shot him?

I haven't seen any, and I think that's a rather large hole in their case.

[mekender]

If I understand the Felony Murder principal correctly, they were co-conspirators/participants in a felony, and someone died as the result of said felony. Who died and how they died/who killed them is not relevant.

IOW, the final determination of the Pharmacist's case is separate from the felony murder issue.

yes and no...

felony murder is that any participants in a crime should have had reasonable expectations that their actions of committing a crime could lead to a death... thus they are responsible for those deaths no matter who actually caused the death...

BUT...

if the pharmacist's prosecution for 1st degree murder is based on that the perp had ceased being a threat and the killing of the perp was done AFTER the threat was over.... then the felony murder case will be hard to make... because the perp's death happened after the crime was over and a new crime (the 1st degree murder of the perp) had begun...

i really cannot imagine that the prosecutor will get very far with these cases... one is in direct contradiction to the other...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

frankly, the case for felony murder is MUCH stronger than the 1st degree murder charge against the pharmacist and would do much more for the community... that pharmacist is unlikely to ever again commit any crime... the other perps are likely to have a long life of crime...

but prosecutors do not always act in the best interests of the community...