Oklahoma City pharmacist seeks dismissal of murder case

Prosecutors say the difference is "just semantics."

The pharmacist, Jerome Ersland, faces a jury trial Sept. 13 in Oklahoma County District Court. He contends he acted to defend himself and two store employees.

Ersland shot a masked robber, Antwun Parker, six times on May 19, 2009, inside the Reliable Discount Pharmacy in south Oklahoma City. A surveillance video shows his first shot hit Parker, 16, in the head.

Prosecutors allege Ersland, 58, of Chickasha, was in the wrong when he fired the final five shots into the robber's body. Prosecutors allege the unarmed robber was by then knocked out and on the floor from the head shot.

Ersland has claimed he shot again because the robber was getting back up and cursing him. The video does not show Parker after he was knocked down.

At issue in the dismissal request is whether the first shot was fatal. It sent a pellet deep into the robber's brain, records show.

In a report last year, the pathologist who did the autopsy described the head wound as nonfatal. Dr. Collie M. Trant was then chief medical examiner.

Trant was fired in February, and a longtime state pathologist, Dr. Chai Choi, has reviewed the case in order to testify.