DA opposes Ersland’s commutation request
Oklahoma County’s district attorney said Monday a former pharmacist convicted of murder should not get out of prison early because it would send the wrong message.
“If he were to be released ... there would not be any deterrence to vigilante action,” District Attorney David Prater told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
Former pharmacist Jerome Jay Ersland is seeking a commutation of his life sentence for fatally shooting a 16-year-old robber. “Truly I acted in self-defense when I was surprised at work,” he wrote in his application for relief.
Ersland, 66, will speak to the five-member board via video from prison Tuesday afternoon. The board will then vote on whether to recommend any time off.
Gov. Mary Fallin has the final say.
On Monday, the DA described for the board how Ersland shot an already wounded robber five more times after chasing another robber away.
The DA said Ersland grabbed a second gun, “calmly” walked over to Antwun Parker, leaned over and fired into the boy’s chest five times from 18 inches away. He said Parker was unarmed, on the floor and unconscious from a shot to the head.
“Mr. Ersland likes to paint himself as a victim,” Prater said. “That’s not a victim. That’s an executioner.”
The DA’s warning about sending the wrong message came during a spirited exchange between him and board member Kris Steele.
Steele is a former House speaker and now chairman of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform. Steele questioned whether Ersland is a danger to society.
In his comments, Steele stressed that he agreed Ersland went too far and was in the wrong. But Steele also pointed out the former pharmacist served 14 years in the military and had no prior criminal record before the fatal shooting.
“Is he a threat to our community?” Steele asked. “If so, he should remain incarcerated. If not, I believe his sentence should be commuted . ... We could recommend that the sentence be commuted to 15 years, to 20 years. So there’s a range. It’s not just time served.”
Prater said the former pharmacist deserved his punishment.
“He involved himself in vigilante justice,” the DA said. “He wanted to be a hero.”
The DA also said, “Yes, the release of Mr. Ersland would be a danger to society because it would send a message to others who would consider vigilante justice that there is no consequence. ‘Sooner or later a board will let you out. Don’t worry about it.’”
Prater pointed out to the board that Ersland repeatedly lied to police about what happened at the pharmacy and about his military service. He reminded board members that Ersland was caught in prison with contraband, the powerful painkiller fentanyl, in 2012.
The former pharmacist’s arrest in 2009 and first-degree murder conviction in 2011 touched off debates across the country over his actions. Thousands signed petitions after his jury trial calling the verdict an outrage.
The key evidence against Ersland came from security cameras that recorded the shooting inside the Reliable Discount Pharmacy in south Oklahoma City.
Ersland complained in his application for commutation that he got a life sentence while the robber who got away only served three years. Prosecutors made a deal with the second robber, Jevontai Ingram, then 14, for his testimony against the two men who recruited him to do the crime.
Ingram was given a gun but fled the pharmacy without firing, according to testimony and the security cameras. He is now in prison for other offenses.