Well, that's kinda messed up.

[chaotic_nipple]

Oklahoma drugstore shooting stirs debate over self-defense, turns a pharmacist into folk hero - OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Confronted by two holdup men, pharmacist Jerome Ersland pulled a gun, shot one of them in the head and chased the other away. Then, in a scene recorded by the drugstore's security camera, he went behind the counter, got another gun, and pumped five more bullets into the wounded teenager as he lay on the floor.

I have no problem with him shooting the bad guy the first time. Even shooting him again when he was down would have been perfectly reasonable, provided he did it right away, in the proverbial 'heat of the moment'. But leaving the scene, coming back, and THEN shooting him? Not cool. Not only was the criminal no longer a threat to his life, there is no reasonable way he could have _believed_ that such a threat existed. That turns this from self-defense, into homicide. While it's highly unlikely that a jury will convict him, the DA still did the right thing in charging him.

Comments

[dracphelan.livejournal.com]

Every armed self-defense expert I read or know says the guy deserves the murder-1 charge. He's an idiot who deserves to go to jail.

[tssandwich.livejournal.com]

Actually, the article doesn't give enough information for me to form an opinion whether it's murder one. If the head shot was fatal, all he did was put five bullets into a corpse, which is probably not worth charging. If the head shot was survivable, yeah, murder one, though finding a jury that isn't going to acquit in five minutes is going to be a nightmare.

Whichever it was, it was colossally stupid on the pharmacist's part.

[kinshar.livejournal.com]

What timeline is needed for premeditation? Is less than a minute not enough? Did the tape have audio? First degree murder requires the prosecution to prove premeditation. Maybe the robber moaned a threat before he got another few rounds? Of course depending on the state shooting an assailant more than once will get you prison time or be expected of any armed citizen.

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

The prosecution is probably trying for a plea deal, there's no way the premeditation part will stand up, even _if_ they get a jury that's not determined to 'nullify'.

[elzandro.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday!

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