Jerome Ersland is Appealing his Murder Conviction

[mikeb302000]

The Washington Post reports

An Oklahoma pharmacist sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting a teenager who tried to rob his store claimed Monday that his case was mishandled and his attorney was ineffective.

Jerome Ersland, 60, made the allegations in an appeal that asks the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to order a new trial and set aside his May 2011 first-degree murder conviction and sentence.

Prosecutors concluded Ersland was justified when he shot 16-year-old Antwun Parker in the head, knocking him to the ground, and then chased a second would-be robber out of the store. But they said he went too far when he grabbed a second handgun and shot the unconscious boy five more times in the abdomen. A coroner’s report said the latter shots killed Parker.

A 12-member jury rejected Ersland’s claims of self-defense and unanimously convicted him of murder.

I thought we'd heard the last of this guy. We discussed him at length at the time of the shooting, here and here. For me he's the king of the false DGU.

Naturally there were plenty of supporters among the biased gun-rights crowd. For them, the execution of a criminal is a good thing, no matter how it's done. On the most popular gun blog there is, TTAG, they often advise murderers like Ersland to keep their mouth shut when the police come, all the better to get away with their criminal behavior. These guys are nothing if they're not loyal to one another.

Jerome Ersland didn't get away with his actions and now he's trying to get off on a technicality.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Cross posted at Mikeb302000

[gejohnston]

1. actually, we discussed him at length

and if he would have offered first aid and called 911 after the robber was down, Ersland would be in the clear. Summery executions on the other hand, are never acceptable. The video camera showed him doing just that. That was the overwhelming consensus here. As for TTAG, they do not say "STFU" they say do what is common practice when police shoot someone, make a statement with their lawyer present. That is SOP when cops are involved in a shooting. I'm certain that is true in Italy as well.

Jerome Ersland didn't get away with his actions and now he's trying to get off on a technicality.

You are sounding more right wing authoritarian each day. "technicalities" are the BoR. The right whines about "technicalities" when cops violate the 4A and 5A.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_authoritarianism#Right_and_left

[ileus]

2. a really long time back.

Good luck on the appeal.

[mikeb302000]

16. Maybe you didn't read the article

Ersland is trying to get off because his lawyers didn't represent him properly and made some mistakes. I call that technicalities.

"As for TTAG, they do not say "STFU""

You're wrong about that too.

[aikoaiko]

3. My opinion? I think you misrepresent TTAG

Last edited Wed Oct 3, 2012, 09:36 AM - Edit history (1)

How strange that you would get that wrong. Their advice was for post self-defense use and not for murderers.

No wonder anti-RKBA initiatives fail. They don't even recognize the difference.

[mikeb302000]

17. Their advice is for post self defense use, correct.

The only problem with that is some of those DGUs are nothing of the kind. They're like old Jerome, simple murders.

[aikoaiko]

25. The right to remain silent and not self-incriminate is another civil liberty...

...Protected by the Bill of Rights.

Are you against that too?

[GreenStormCloud]

4. So what? Almost all convicts file appeals, and then more appeals, and then more.

It isn't like he has anything else to do.

[oneshooter]

5. Do you activly support the Brady Campaign or the VPC?

[mikeb302000]

18. What?

[Remmah2]

6. "These guys are nothing if they're not loyal to one another" A conspiracy theory?

Maybe symptoms of paranoia?

Are all gun owners out to get the non-gun owners? Are we all hidden criminals? It's sad that we're not a part of the politically correct minorities in which case we wouldn't have to put up with the empty generalizations and abusive lip service.

As a group of pro2A Democrats, we are constantly being called "hidden criminals".

[mikeb302000]

19. Sorry to tell ya, but you're the politically incorrect minority. n.t.

[Remmah2]

27. When minorities are discriminated against keep an eye on your civil rights.

Otherwise some pigs become more equal than others.

[krispos42]

7. Black civil-rights activists used to follow cop cars around...

...and when a black person was pulled over for DWB, the activists would pull up behind the cop car and begin shouting the driver's rights under federal and state law to him, to keep his mouth shut and not allow the police to search himself or his vehicle.


Doubtless, this was all done to better get away with criminal behavior, right?

[4th law of robotics]

9. All *those* people are hidden criminals any way

and they're wrong if they think their rights count for anything.

I've seen too many of *those* scum get away on technicalities. If it were up to me they'd all be locked up at the slightest offense and permanently stripped of their rights. Some even get so uppity as to think they have a right to a fair trial. A right to a fair and severe sentencing is more like it.

Oh no, I mean gun owners, not blacks. That would be horribly bigoted to say about any other group.

[4th law of robotics]

8. Yes the gun crowd is biased. Not the guy with the anti-gun blog

he's so fervently impartial that he keeps pushing his anti-gun blog at every opportunity.

Believe it or not (not I'm guessing based on your other comments) but basic rights are extended to all citizens, even gun owners.

You have a right to a fair trial.

For them, the execution of a criminal is a good thing, no matter how it's done.

Funny, aren't you arguing that the execution (or life imprisonment depending on the state) of a gun owner is a good thing no matter how it's done?

On the most popular gun blog there is, TTAG, they often advise murderers like Ersland to keep their mouth shut when the police come, all the better to get away with their criminal behavior.

You have the right to remain silent . . .

Not talking to the cops without a lawyer is often wise, even if you're innocent.

Jerome Ersland didn't get away with his actions and now he's trying to get off on a technicality.

Er . . . a retrial isn't a technicality. Most murder convictions are retried.

I thought you only hated the 2nd amendment. But it seems all our rights are horribly offensive to you.

[sylvi]

10. He has a right to appeal

Regardless of what you think of a person's alleged crimes, citizens have a right to appeal convictions if there are grounds to do so. In my opinion, there are no such things as "loopholes" or "technicalities". Something is either a part of the law or it isn't. Something is either correct under due process or it isn't. Vagueness and procedural errors have no place in jurisprudence. You can't just dismiss them with a wink and a nod because you don't like the person they affect. If a person gets off on what you call a "technicality" or a law is not clear or all-encompassing enough to satisfy what what you think it should accomplish, then the fault lies with the system or law itself, not the individual, and should be addressed as such.

[Atypical Liberal]

11. Jereome Ersland killed a robber.

I continue to be unsympathetic to Antwun Parker, the robber that Jereome Ersland killed.

Antwun Parker was one of three criminals who planned in advance to robe Jereome Ersland's store. One of those criminals was armed with a handgun.

Yes, what Ersland did was both wrong and illegal. But when an armed robber dies as a direct result of participating in armed robbery, I don't feel very bad for him.

When you inflict violence upon someone, you put them into a very primitive, even barbaric, "fight or flight" mindset. The results are not always going to be constrained by rational thought and I can't fault Ersland for it, even though he was wrong.

Those three armed robbers provoked the monster of fight in Jereome Ersland, and one of them died for it. I feel sorry for Jereome Ersland, but not so much for Antwun Parker.

[Eleanors38]

12. Nothing important here.nt

[glacierbay]

13. Gee Mikey

we do have that right here in the US, I think even Italy, where you live, convicted criminals have the right to appeal their conviction.
It probably won't work, it rarely does, but more power to him, he was clearly in the wrong when he shot the kid 5 more times after he was down and no longer a threat.
The first shot that took the kid down was a righteous shoot, the rest weren't.
So, what was your point in posting this OP? Oh yeah, you're lamenting the fact that he's trying to get off on a technicality. So what? Once again, he has that right under our justice system. You may not like it, but, who cares, you don't live here.

[mikeb302000]

20. Where I live has nothing to do with it. Why do you keep repeating it

as if it does.

I posted this because Jerome is the poster boy for false DGU claims. If it weren't for that video camera he would have been another nunber on the DGU list. And you guys would have been singing his praises.

[beevul]

22. Where you live, calls into question, your interest in this issue pertaining to where you dont live.

Where you live, calls into question, your interest in this issue as it pertainins to where you dont live.

You pontificate about an issue halfway around the world from you, that no matter which way it goes, will not effect life where you live in any significant way, one way or the other.

Why?


What exactly, is YOUR stake in this, seeing as you live in Italy.

Its not like "this issue effects us all" like climate change, and its not like Italy has guns flowing into it over the border from mom and pop gun shops in Arizona, so what exactly is your interest in this issue?

Do you actually have one? Or are you just into trying to get others to live their lives day to day by rules regulations and morales which mirror your biases?


Please explain mike.

[holdencaufield]

23. Self-righteous meddling ...

... and the illusion he's acting from some higher moral ground.

[Remmah2]

30. Sounds like a mother-in-law. nt

nt

[holdencaufield]

31. Very similar species ...

... than enjoy a common ancestor

The Yenta

[Remmah2]

29. From a political standpoint nothing spectacular in Italy's heritage.

Between the Catholic and Fascist and Mafia history there's been a lot of ideology forced upon the populous rather than a country that champions freedom. Please don't be angry with us we understand your political roots and cultural differences please respect ours.

[PavePusher]

14. You are lying.

Naturally there were plenty of supporters among the biased gun-rights crowd. For them, the execution of a criminal is a good thing, no matter how it's done.

Cite to such, or retract your lie.

[aikoaiko]

24. AT did not say what you claim he said in that post

Be said he was unsympathetic to criminals and that the shooters actions were illegal.

[4th law of robotics]

28. . . .

"Yes, what Ersland did was both wrong and illegal."

Damning stuff there mikey.

Are making statements that you don't agree with on your list of criteria to permanently disarm someone?

[Eleanors38]

15. So, does he have a right to appeal his conviction? nt

[ileus]

26. by "murderers" you mean lawful shooters right?