Pharmacist in Oklahoma City shooting case gives up guns to defense attorney, but won't say how many
Nolan Clay
Published: June 1, 2009
The pharmacist charged with first-degree murder told a judge today he gave up all his guns to his defense attorney but he refused to reveal the total.
Pharmacist Jerome Jay Ersland, right, talks with attorney Irven Box today. Photo by Ashley McKee
Multimedia
“I gave every weapon of mine to my attorney. I swear to the Lord,”
Jerome Jay Ersland said.
Oklahoma County District Judge Tammy Bass-LeSure last week allowed Ersland, 57, of
Chickasha to be released on $100,000 bail but she banned him from any access to weapons. The hearing today was to see if he had complied with her order.
Ersland told the judge he no longer owns the weapons. Defense attorney
Irven Box said he took the weapons and other personal property from Ersland as payment of part of the attorney fees in the case.
Box told the judge he has accepted other unusual payments in the past, including comic books.
The pharmacist is accused in the murder case of going too far in defending himself May 19 during a robbery at Reliable Discount Pharmacy in
south Oklahoma City. Prosecutors allege he shot the unarmed, unconscious robber five more times in the abdomen after incapacitating the robber with a shot to the head. The robber, Antwun “Speedy” Parker, was 16.
The judge had asked Box to give her a list of the weapons but the attorney refused. Box said he did not have to provide a list because he, not the pharmacist, owned the weapons now.
The judge asked Ersland how many weapons he had turned over but his attorney directed him not to answer the question. Box told the judge that Ersland had a Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.
District Attorney David Prater also said prosecutors could use the answer to that question against Ersland at trial.
The judge at one point said she would put Ersland back in jail if he didn’t answer her question but eventually she decided not to revoke his bail. She said she had learned a lesson and will not in the future let a defense attorney collect a defendant’s weapons.
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