Self-Defense or Murder: Oklahoma Case Sparks Debate

http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7803-Self-Defense-or-Murder-Oklahoma-Case-Sparks-Debate

Pharmacist Jerome Ersland sits in the courtroom as jury selection gets underway in his trial at the Oklahoma County Courthouse in Oklahoma City on May 16, 2011.

A story of crime and punishment that is dividing an Oklahoma community has now entered the online world, raising questions about what is self-defense and first-degree murder.
The debate stems from the life sentence an Oklahoma City, Okla., jury handed down to pharmacist Jerome Ersland on May 26 for a first-degree murder conviction in the killing of 16 year-old Antwun Parker.
Ersland's attorneys told jurors throughout the murder trial that their client had acted in self-defense when he shot Parker six times during an attempted robbery at his Oklahoma City pharmacy. Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued Ersland went too far.