Posted on 05/28/2011 11:54:51 PM PDT by TigerClaws
OKLAHOMA CITY - An emotional jury decided Thursday that pharmacist Jerome Jay Ersland is guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting a masked robber two years ago in an Oklahoma City drugstore.
Jurors recommended life in prison as punishment.
Two co-workers at Reliable Discount Pharmacy told jurors that Ersland was a hero who saved their lives on May 19, 2009.
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20110527_222_A15_CUTLIN912500
(Excerpt) Read more at tulsaworld.com ...
Evidently, you were wrong.
Killers are not popular with good people.
So why are you defending these scum who were robbing the pharmacy... they had every intention to kill if necessary.
You got that right! Nailed it perfectly.
Too many perps are free as a bird, and able to go about creating more mayhem and misery.
Amazing the defenders of these perps... one who believes in a “pure” justice system and one who has a beef against the defender because they may have misrepresented their military service. I’m done... off to get some sleep.
“...Do you really want to live in a society where you can kill somebody, because he didn’t say, “hello” or looked at you funny, because that is the society you seem to want.”
Oh, no you don’t! That is not what she is saying, or what I’m positing, at all!
We are explaining to you, our own necessary protection!
I can’t tell when someone who appears harmless, will pop up and shoot at me!
Show me that post you lying chick.
SHOW ME THAT LYING POST YOU LYING CHICK !
What is it that I don’t get?
I agree with all of you that if a person is actively trying to harm you, to blow him to kingdom come. Heck, if you can aim your gun so that he falls into a woodchipper, so much the better.
However, the moment he walks away, or becomes unconcious, you are not free to ensure that he never harms another person. You cannot show me one state or a county within a state that allows you to incapacitate a person and then proceed to fill him with lead, if he can be shown that he was in an incapacitated condition at the time you killed him.
You might want to do so, and I understand the thinking behind it. It is the result of a justice system that has become unbalanced.
Consequence to a justice system that no longer adequately punishes prisoners, we feel the need to still punish them. That is why some of us cheer things like prisoner rape, or ensuring the guy (after he gets out) can never lead a productive life.
That’s what the real problem is.
You are defending the killer, not me.
What you are seeing is obviously not sympathy for a masked robber. The comments are in line with my own opinion as well. We don't kill anything unless it's necessary. We have a right to defend ourselves from threats... if a violent felon dies in the process, so be it. However, an unconscious violent felon laying on the floor already bleeding is no longer a threat and there is only one reason left to to kill him: vengeance. They guy was able to escape from the store to safety, then he purposefully went back inside and re-exposed himself to the situation so even if the thug was laying on the floor faking it, it really doesn't matter. He should have never went back in. The firearm is there to save your life, and that's the clear line that is drawn. I find it hard to believe anyone can see this any differently. He outright murdered this guy, no question about it.
There was no justifiable reason to re-enter the store in humble opinion...
None of that adds up to sympathy for a violent criminal.
That is what needs to change. I really like that Sheriff in Arizona Sheriff that makes his prisoners life hell, but in a disciplined fashion. I have absolutely no sympathy for anybody who goes to prison.
But that doesn’t mean we allow them to be further brutalized, just because it feels good to do it.
I do understand. Not once have I said that you cannot kill somebody who is trying to break into your house.
However, to break into a house is an active action. If they falls through a porch floorboard and is clearly knocked out, you suddenly don’t have the right to put a gun to his head and remove it from his shoulders. You can sit from him, after having called the cops and, if he then moves, blow him away.
I have been consistently saying that all night long. It is those who think that I’ve been saying that we should provide them with counselling and education upgrades, and kindness and drugs into prison and buy them a house when they get out and perpetual welfare forever, that have been reading anything I have written.
Sorry, I meant to say, “haven’t been reading anything I have written.”
That’s the trouble of typing everything on a Blackberry.
You said you can't if he is incapacitated.
I said that you cannot summarily execute somebody. That is the law of the land in all 50 states.
If somneone comes in my house with the intention of doing harm to me or mine, I AM the law. The penalty for posing a threat to me or mine is death. If that means going to jail later, I am willing to do so.
And where do you need to be an expert to sit 20 feet away, with a gun pointed at the mass of his body, ready to fire if he sits up?
But he will sit up sooner or later, like in front of a parole board. Unless you are guaranteing me he will be in prison for life, with no possibility for parole or escape, he will be a potential threat to me and mine for as long as he lives. Such a threat can not be tollerated.
If a guy comes in my home intending to hurt me or my loved ones I will kill him no matter what body position he is in.
I know the American education system may be about 38th in the world, but it can’t be so bad that you can’t tell the difference between a body in prone position and a body sitting up.
Keep shooting until he can never sit up ever again. Threat elimminated.
No, neither antceecee nor I are wrong.
You don’t get it.
The small and the weak have no recourse. There is no Superman to come and save us. We only have ourselves.
The bad guys have lawyers who play upon the sympathies of the courts. They make us out to be evil, bad people, because we stand up for ourselves.
We’re not evil. I’m barely 5’3” tall. I refuse to be a victim, even though I’ve been robbed, beaten, and sexually assaulted in the past by those much larger than myself. I will not break, and I will fight for my right to be free from the threats of those who treat me and others wickedly.
The law has stood for the rights of the criminal in the recent past, and to Hell with those of the victim. That needs to be corrected.
After reading these posts I have come to the conclusion that one of you is a lawyer. I know you are giving your best opinion, and I appreciate that position. It isn’t easy being a lawyer. But case law, I believe, has weakened our Constitutional structure in this nation.
Case law has allowed rot to creep into our legal system. It should be overhauled and a return to our Constitutional bedrock re-established.
So, you are like a little pansy.
That’s right, when he’s incapacitated.
That means he’s in no position to harm you.
And the law of the land supports that position.
Then you should have no problem with the pharmacist going to jail for what he did, because he did what you say he would do. Glad we’re in agreement on something. If you take out an incapacitated individual, you deserve jailtime.
I don’t care if it’s an hour or a day. If the cops haven’t come to collect him and he sits up, show him what big bullets can do to a body. But if he stays prone, until the cops come, he lives.
Let me repeat myself, for the umpteenth time and as clearly as possible. If somebody is trying to break into your home or is doing something active that is threatening your family, kill the bastard.
However, if he’s no longer in position to harm you or your family, it is not your right to deliver justice.
As far as keeping shooting, I have no problem with that actually. That’s what the pharmacist should have done.
However, the pharmacist made the mistake of killing the perp when he knew darn well the guy wasn’t going anywhere or going to do anything. That is where he broke the law.
with only a slight exaggeration intended, the pharmacist could have taken a leisurely lunch and massage and still finished off the perp.
I like what you say, Jonty.
“You can sit from him, after having called the cops and, if he then moves, blow him away.”
The problem with this situation, is proving it later.
I would think a doubletap at the front door should be sufficient.
Airborne to that.
I’m also a little guy and have been harmed by others, so I see your point.
It’s the intent behind one’s actions that concern me. Most of us here are Christians and Christian justice does allow for severe punishment, even the death penalty. It just doesn’t allow you to forever punish somebody for their crimes or allow you to decide what the punishment should be.
The way some are coming across, it is very much bordering on the sort of Old Testament blood feuds, where strong tribes could wipe out weaker tribes over minor issues. It’s not about justice at that point, it is about revenge until you feel justified, whether or not the punishment you’ve settled on is really proportionate to the crime.
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