Defense Attorney Critical...

[BadgeBunny]

BB is correct... evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt shot thug never moved again after hitting floor. which would support thug was instantly dead from first shot.

defense went with thug was alive and a threat so following shots were justified. since you cannot have it both ways. they lost. this supported DA's assertion that thug was alive, but didn't move. prosecution had their cake and ate it too.

defense was handicapped by the non-stop mouth of Ersland and his merry pack of lies. Defense should have known by trial time which way to go.... pure forensic or he said, she said evidence. To me this was incompetence by the defense.

it's only possible to determine time of death with the broadest of strokes. for the medical examiner to state thug was alive 30 seconds after first shot. this means she determined time of death did not occur within 30 seconds after first shot.

it's impossible to nail down time of death within 30 seconds. it just cannot be done.
since it's impossible to know with 100% certainty if shot thug was alive or dead at time of five shots.

doubt will always be there if thug was alive or dead when shot 5 more times.
sorry but the benefit of doubt has to go to Ersland.

safe to say that above information is not common knowledge. but NO way ME didn't know this. IMHO it's incompetence for defense not to know above.

I agree with everything you've said except your comments about the incompetence of the defense team. They could only work within the parameters of Ersland's statements. The defense teams' biggest obstacle was Ersland himself, not the ME's report.

ETA: I believe that had Ersland not been so vocal he would have not been charged. He took away any doubt there may have been about Parker's being dead or alive with his own statements.

 

[_CY_]

defense knew about all the lies Ersland spouted before trial. this is assuming Ersland had specific instructions from defense to STFU and kept right on spouting lies. defense HAD to know Ersland was his own worst enemy.

IMHO incompetence came from not doing basic research to refute what ME had stated in writing before trial.

If defense had spent 1 hour .. that's right 1 hour using google... they would have found LOADS of documentation on time of death. And how it's all but impossible to determine time of death, with anything but the broadest of strokes.

with above knowledge defense would had an air tight case ...

since it's impossible to prove if thug is alive or death 30 seconds after first shot. NO one will ever know if thug was alive or death at time of 5 additional shots.

a man should NOT be convicted of murder1 if there's ANY doubt remaining. sorry but this includes scumbags like Ersland... the guilty verdict should be vacated.

I agree with everything you've said except your comments about the incompetence of the defense team. They could only work within the parameters of Ersland's statements. The defense teams' biggest obstacle was Ersland himself, not the ME's report.

ETA: I believe that had Ersland not been so vocal he would have not been charged. He took away any doubt there may have been about Parker's being dead or alive with his own statements.

 

[BadgeBunny]

defense knew about all the lies Ersland spouted before trial. this is assuming Ersland had specific instructions from defense to STFU. defense HAD to know Ersland was his own worst enemy.

IMHO incompetence came from not doing basic research to refute what ME had stated in writing before trial.
If defense had spent 1 hour .. that's right 1 hour using google... they would have found LOADS of documentation on time of death. And how it's all but impossible to determine time of death, with anything but the broadest of strokes.

with above knowledge defense would had an air tight case ...

since it's impossible to prove if thug is alive or death 30 seconds after first shot. NO one will ever know if thug was alive or death at time of 5 additional shots.

a man should NOT be convicted of murder1 if there's ANY doubt remaining.
sorry but this includes scumbags like Ersland... the guilty verdict should be vacated.

I see where you are coming from I just don't agree that the defense team was incompetent or that there was any doubt that Parker was still alive based on the evidence presented. I will give you that Parker's being "alive" most probably was in the narrowest sense only and that he was "on his way out" as it were but even brain dead folks on life-support are considered alive by legal definition so as long as there is a heartbeat then Parker was alive.

Box was ethically bound to go with the defense Ersland wanted. Some folks take their attorney's advice, some don't. I don't know what Box and his team advised Ersland to do so I can't comment to that. But given Ersland's actions during and after the shooting (and based on my experience over the years) I'm guessing that Ersland was a difficult client to deal with, at best. I think we can both agree that he has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be his own worst enemy.

Let's say for the sake of argument that Box discredited the ME's report to the jury's satisfaction. That still doesn't solve the problem of the overwhelming evidence showing that Parker 1) still had a heartbeat and 2) was not moving and therefore was not a threat.

If Ersland had said "Opps ... yeah ... in the heat of the moment I fired 5 shots into a person who was not moving and not a threat ... Looking back I think he was dead but I just couldn't help myself" then I think he might have gotten off with the lesser charge of manslaughter or even just desecrating a dead body. Maybe not even gone to trial at all.

Unfortunately (from a strictly strategic standpoint legally) he did not do that. It was Ersland's own insistence that Parker was still alive and still a threat that hung him.

 

[jwv]

I agree there is to much doubt remaining.

 

[_CY_]

it's impossible to determine time of death within 30 seconds, it just cannot be done.
NO one will ever know with 100% certainty thug was alive or dead at time of five additional shots.

a beating heart is not the legal definition of death ... testimony is already on record from ME that involuntary muscle movements are possible after death. don't think anyone will dispute it's possible for heart to beat 30 seconds after being brain dead. which is the definition of death.

Ersland's insistence that downed thug was still alive and a threat is yet another lie. look at his actions in the video, the downed thug was no longer a threat. Ersland only believable defense is you cannot kill a dead person.

since NO one will ever know if downed thug was alive or dead... this permanently puts doubt on jury's guilty verdict.

there's many precedents of using DNA or other forensic evidence to exonerate death sentences. this is after falsely admitting to the crime. so the fact that someone incriminates themselves. then gets exonerated afterwards by forensic evidence is not new.

I see where you are coming from I just don't agree that the defense team was incompetent or that there was any doubt that Parker was still alive based on the evidence presented. I will give you that Parker's being "alive" most probably was in the narrowest sense only and that he was "on his way out" as it were but even brain dead folks on life-support are considered alive by legal definition so as long as there is a heartbeat then Parker was alive.

Box was ethically bound to go with the defense Ersland wanted. Some folks take their attorney's advice, some don't. I don't know what Box and his team advised Ersland to do so I can't comment to that. But given Ersland's actions during and after the shooting (and based on my experience over the years) I'm guessing that Ersland was a difficult client to deal with, at best. I think we can both agree that he has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be his own worst enemy.

Let's say for the sake of argument that Box discredited the ME's report to the jury's satisfaction. That still doesn't solve the problem of the overwhelming evidence showing that Parker 1) still had a heartbeat and 2) was not moving and therefore was not a threat.

If Ersland had said "Opps ... yeah ... in the heat of the moment I fired 5 shots into a person who was not moving and not a threat ... Looking back I think he was dead but I just couldn't help myself" then I think he might have gotten off with the lesser charge of manslaughter or even just desecrating a dead body. Maybe not even gone to trial at all.

Unfortunately (from a strictly strategic standpoint legally) he did not do that. It was Ersland's own insistence that Parker was still alive and still a threat that hung him.

 

[BadgeBunny]

Ahhh ... you are right. I was thinking about the brain dead thing and confused it with heartbeat.

In any event, if Ersland hadn't wanted to find himself in this untenable position I guess he shouldn't have gone to the trouble he did to commit murder and then try to lie his way out of it.

 

[Lone Wolf '49]

Ahhh ... you are right. I was thinking about the brain dead thing and confused it with heartbeat.

In any event, if Ersland hadn't wanted to find himself in this untenable position I guess he shouldn't have gone to the trouble he did to commit murder and then try to lie his way out of it.

You know I have been biting my tongue for weeks on this, it has been said and done'
Ersland hung himself. How plain is it to see. GEEEEZ. And you really can't flame on an old guy, 'cause he has no butt left to chew or flame on. HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, let it fly. I am just amazed this has gone on as long as it has. Want to say more, I have a stray dog to attend to.

 

[Crosstimbers Okie]

It's all moot. The thing to do now is to pressure the Governor for clemency. The POS thug is dead as he should be. The PC crown have their conviction to make them feel righteous. Now's it's Ersland's turn to be rewarded for the good, right, proper, and moral deed that he did.

 

[BadgeBunny]

It's all moot. The thing to do now is to pressure the Governor for clemency. The POS thug is dead as he should be. The PC crown have their conviction to make them feel righteous. Now's it's Ersland's turn to be rewarded for the good, right, proper, and moral deed that he did.

I'm not sure but I don't think she can even consider the issue unless the Pardon and Parole Board makes a recommendation. Ersland's not gonna see the Pardon and Parole Board for a little while longer ... at least 38 years if he gets a life sentence.

 

[_CY_]

my opinion is Ersland is guilty of going back to the downed thug who was no longer a threat and then proceeded to dump 5 rounds into him. then try to lie out of it.

his only defense is you cannot kill a dead person. And it's impossible for anyone to know if downed thug was dead or alive. IMHO at some point his legal team will figure above out and eventually get his guilty verdict vacated.

totally agree with everyone opinion that Ersland brought all this on himself by his big fat mouth. yes ... Ersland hung himself

as BB stated a pardon will not be happening until the parole board approves it first. commutation of his sentence is possible at any time.

Ahhh ... you are right. I was thinking about the brain dead thing and confused it with heartbeat.

In any event, if Ersland hadn't wanted to find himself in this untenable position I guess he shouldn't have gone to the trouble he did to commit murder and then try to lie his way out of it.

You know I have been biting my tongue for weeks on this, it has been said and done'
Ersland hung himself. How plain is it to see. GEEEEZ. And you really can't flame on an old guy, 'cause he has no butt left to chew or flame on. HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, let it fly. I am just amazed this has gone on as long as it has. Want to say more, I have a stray dog to attend to.

I'm not sure but I don't think she can even consider the issue unless the Pardon and Parole Board makes a recommendation. Ersland's not gonna see the Pardon and Parole Board for a little while longer ... at least 38 years if he gets a life sentence.