Latest in the Jerome Jay Ersland saga.

[Old Fart]

Oklahoma City pharmacist loses legal motion to disqualify trial judge


A pharmacist lost again today in his legal effort to get a different judge to oversee his murder trial.

Oklahoma County District Judge Bill Graves refused to disqualify District Judge Ray C. Elliott from the trial.

The pharmacist's defense attorneys now will ask the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to disqualify Elliott.

Elliott twice refused to step down from the case.

The pharmacist, Jerome Jay Ersland , 59, was charged with first-degree murder after he shot a masked robber six times in May 2009 inside Reliable Discount Pharmacy in south Oklahoma City.

Ersland, who lives in Chickasha, has said he acted to defend himself and two female co-workers. Prosecutors say Ersland went too far when he fired the last five shots, in effect executing an unconscious, unarmed robber.

His attorneys alleged the judge is prejudiced against Hispanics and can’t be trusted to be fair to anyone.

Graves wrote: “This argument is totally untenable, especially in view of the fact that Mr. Ersland is not Hispanic, but Caucasian, and the court rejects the counterfeit logic behind it.”


Elliott has admitted he called his roofers “wetbacks” on Aug. 30 during a moment of anger at the courthouse over damage they had done to his property. He has said his general contractors told him the roofers were illegal immigrants.

He apologized for the remark and said he is not a racist. He has denied making other statements about Hispanics that have been attributed to him.

In an 11-page ruling, Graves wrote: “The issue in this case is not whether Judge Elliott was politically correct in utterances he made outside the courtroom which in no way involved his judicial duties in this case. While use of the derogatory term “wetback” is inappropriate, it is not grounds for his recusal. Political correctness, past or present, is not the standard in deciding this case, but rather whether or not Judge Elliott can be a fair, unbiased and impartial judge as to the defendant.”

Graves found that “Judge Elliott has said and done absolutely nothing to call into question his impartiality in this the Ersland case.”



Read more: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-pha...ify-trial-judge/article/3533328#ixzz1BQX1pYdA

 

[HMFIC]

Thanks for the update.

It's lawyer's jobs to try every angle... didn't work this time apparantly.

 

[Crosstimbers Okie]

Trial date is set: http://newsok.com/pharmacyshootings

I see that the co-robbers of the little thug who was killed have got new criminal charges for themselves while in the Oklahoma County jail.

It's a shame that Ersland is likely to be sacrificed for killing a lowlife like these. I do hope that David Prater pays a price for it himself at the ballot box.

 

[patrickcudd]

Trial date is set: http://newsok.com/pharmacyshootings

I see that the co-robbers of the little thug who was killed have got new criminal charges for themselves while in the Oklahoma County jail.

It's a shame that Ersland is likely to be sacrificed for killing a lowlife like these. I do hope that David Prater pays a price for it himself at the ballot box.

+1

I will try to be active in helping his opponent!

 

[Talacker]

What opponent? He was reelected in the fall unopposed.

 

[djcorrell]

he's spending his life's savings to defend himself, and yet he saved the taxpayers a lot! how long does a convicted murderer sit in prison in OK? just asking.

 

[saddlebum]

the law say's once a threat is no longer a threat you can no longer use deadly force against it. so when you come back to some one who is no longer a threat several minutes later look them over,go retrieve another gun from a locked drawer shoot the now motionless person five more times and then lie to the police about the whole incident you've commited a crime.

i dont give a rats ass if every armed robber in the world is killed in the commisson of a crime,but the DA must inforce all the the laws not just the ones we like

 

[doctorjj]

the law say's once a threat is no longer a threat you can no longer use deadly force against it. so when you come back to some one who is no longer a threat several minutes later look them over,go retrieve another gun from a locked drawer shoot the now motionless person five more times and then lie to the police about the whole incident you've commited a crime.

i dont give a rats ass if every armed robber in the world is killed in the commisson of a crime,but the DA must inforce all the the laws not just the ones we like

So you can say, definitively, by the evidence that has been shown, that the man killed, at the moment the 5 additional shots were fired, was neither still a threat nor already dead? Because if it can be shown that he was either, there is no case.

 

[Crosstimbers Okie]

Reasonable Doubt. I've watched the video several times. I can't tell what the thug's doing when Ersland returns inside the building.

And I have news for you. Prosecutors have discretion. They make decisions all the time on which cases to prosecute, and which ones not to prosecute.

And I have more news for you. The ballot box is the proper place for citizens to express their wills. If the citizens of Oklahoma District Attorney District 7 want the thugs of central Oklahoma to drive them out of their homes and businesses, David Prater is the man they want in that office. Nowhere in reason and morality should the law be a suicide pact.

 

[saddlebum]

So you can say, definitively, by the evidence that has been shown, that the man killed, at the moment the 5 additional shots were fired, was neither still a threat nor already dead? Because if it can be shown that he was either, there is no case.

mr prater believes he can.