Oklahoma: Jury in pharmacist's trial visit pharmacy Defendant says he shot teenage robber in self-defense

By Tim Talley Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Reactions were mixed Monday as jurors in the first-degree murder trial of a pharmacist accused of killing a teenager during an attempted robbery visited the south Oklahoma City drugstore where the shooting took place. Twelve jurors and two alternates were taken in an Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office bus from the courtroom to the Reliable Discount Pharmacy, where Jerome Ersland, 59, fatally shot 16-year-old Antwun Parker on May 19, 2009. Ersland has pleaded not guilty and claims he acted in self-defense. Prosecutors have said Ersland was justified when he shot Parker once in the head, knocking him unconscious, but went too far when he grabbed a second gun and shot Parker five more times in the torso more than 20 seconds later. Jurors were given an opportunity to personally examine the scene of the shooting after watching security video of the crime and video of a statement Ersland gave detectives on the night of the shooting in which he claimed Parker and a second teen were armed during the robbery attempt and both fired at him. Detectives testified Parker was not armed and said Ersland's statement is not supported by evidence in the case. "There's no evidence that the suspects fired weapons at the defendant," Oklahoma City police Detective Ryan Porter said. Supervised by District Judge Ray Elliott and other court personnel, members of Ersland's jury were allowed to go inside the cramped and cluttered pharmacy in groups of two or three and some took notes. Many jurors were interested in the area around the cash register where the holdup began and the area where Parker fell after he was shot in the head. "Oh, wow," said one juror. "Small," said another. Jurors also walked behind the pharmacy counter where Ersland's weapons were stored, and one juror appeared to step off paces around the register and up a step that leads to the counter area. A label on a glass jar containing paper money stored on a ledge near the cash register read "Legal Defense Fund (Ersland)." The fund was created shortly after the shooting and has helped Ersland pay his legal fees. Some jurors were interested in seeing a small room where two female workers hid during the robbery. "This is the little room back in the back? Can we go in?" one juror asked. "Sure," said a court worker who was out of view. Jurors also walked outside the pharmacy where Ersland chased and fired at the second robber, 16-year-old Jevontai Ingram, following the robbery attempt. Ersland, who still works at the pharmacy, was present with his attorney Irven Box during the crime scene visit but said nothing. Before visiting to the pharmacy, jurors saw a videotaped statement Ersland gave to police after the shooting in which he claimed both of the teens fired at him. "They had guns. They started shooting. I got grazed right here," Ersland said, motioning to his wrist. Ersland claimed Parker was still moving after he was shot in the head and threatened him as he chased Ingram out of the store. "He was going to hit me as I went by. I unloaded on him," Ersland said. "I didn't want the girls to get killed," Ersland said, referring to the female employees. "I don't want to get shot. I just did what I had to do." Ersland, an Army and Air Force veteran, also claimed he was injured during the Persian Gulf War. Oklahoma City Police Det. David Jacobson testified there is no evidence Ersland was ever in combat and suffered a combat-related injury. The security video shows the two teens enter the store, one brandishing a weapon as the other, Parker, pulls a hood over his head. Ersland then fires once and Parker falls out of camera view, as the second teen flees with Ersland chasing him. Ersland then returns to the pharmacy, walking past where Parker had fallen and behind a counter with his back to Parker. He then picks up a second gun and returns to where Parker had fallen, firing five more shots as he stands over the unconscious teen. An autopsy showed Parker had six gunshot wounds, one to the head and five to the torso. Ingram, the other person in the video, is confined to a state juvenile facility after pleading guilty to first-degree murder under Oklahoma's felony murder law, which allows a murder charge against someone when an accomplice is killed during the commission of a crime. Two other men, Anthony D. Morrison, 44, and Emanuel Mitchell, 33, were accused of recruiting the teens and helping plan the robbery. They were convicted of first-degree murder earlier this month and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Published: Wed, May 25, 2011