Premeditated

This week the trial portion of the Jerome Ersland case came to an end.  This was the trial of a Pharmacist who protected his pharmacy and employees by killing a gun toting underage junkie theif. The verdict, Guilty of Murder in the 1st Degree...Murder that was Premeditated.   I for one do not agree with the verdict or even the trying of the case.  In my opinion when a thug approaches you with a gun during a robbery, you should just about have Carte Blanche in the way which you handle the matter.  I do not believe that you should handle this issue with kid gloves just because the person holding the gun happens to be a minor.  The only requirement to use a gun in a robbery is that the perpetrator be strong enough to lift the weapon and pull the trigger.  Being underage does not prevent that theif from killing you.  Another key issue approached in the constitution is the right to bear arms.  This right implies the right to use those arms to protect you and others for whom you are responsible.  Once again a lower court has infringed upon one of our basic freedoms.  Do I think that it was in the best interest of those rights for Mr. Ersland to kill the theif?  Yes, without a doubt.  Had the roles been reversed I would still feel that killing the theif would have still been the proper choice.  You should always end a situation by completely removing yourself from danger, in this case by making sure that the robber would not be able to retrieve his weapon and use it on you or anyone in your employ.

A Premeditated Murder by rough defination is causing a wrongful death by any means with forethought and planning.  The entire incident took place over a time span of 50 seconds, not even a full minute.  Give me a break, no one can think about and plan a murder in the time alloted here.  He didn't even have time to know what he was doing, he only reacted to the situation.  The man received his military training to react and acheive a goal without thinking, this was simply a spontaneous reaction to a dangerous situation.  There was no time for premeditation.  Instead of receiving a guilty verdict Mr. Ersland should have been given a commendation for his actions, one life was taken and no telling how many were saved.  Had this thug accomplished what he came into the pharmacy for, all members of the pharmacy staff could have been killed or left dying on the floor.  Untold numbers of civillians and police officers could have been killed by an insuing chase, sacrificing many more innocent human lives just so that some junkie could get high.

Finally, the reaction of the friends and family of this thug, theif and criminal was apalling.  A celebration of the fact that an innocent man who simply went to work one morning, was going to prison for killing an armed scumbag that tried to hold him up at the point of a gun, for the rest of his life.  If I had my way the friends and family of this piece of garbage would be paying restitution to the state for the waste of time spent in trying a hero.  Yes, to me Mr.  Jerome Ersland, Retired LtC. USAF. is a hero and has been falsely accused, falsely arrested, falsely adjudicated and falsely convicted.  There is the true crime in this case.