It has long been said that the lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client. That certainly seems to be true for a felony murder defendant who chose to represent himself at his re-trial.
In 2009, two masked teenagers walked into the Reliable Discount Pharmacy in an attempted robbery. When the pharmacist, Jerome Ersland pulled a gun and started firing, one fled; the other was shot and killed.
After surveillance video of the incident was made public, Ersland was no longer dubbed a hero. The footage showed him chasing Jevontai Ingram, then 14, out of the store before returning to fire multiple shots into Antwun Parker, 16, who already lay immobile on the floor. Ersland was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder.
However, under state law, Ersland was not the only one liable for the teenager's death. It is considered an act of first degree murder any time a person is killed in the commission of a felony, which made Ingram and two others, Emmanuel D. Mitchell and Anthony D. Morrison, culpable in the teen's death. Mitchell and Morrison were accused of convincing the two teens to rob the pharmacy, and Mitchell drove the boys to the location and was to be their getaway driver.
In his first trial, Mitchell was sentenced to life plus 35 years in prison. At the conclusion of the trial, Mitchell made headlines when he punched Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater in the face inside the courtroom.
Mitchell appealed his conviction on the grounds that he was not allowed to represent himself, and in 2013, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction and ordered a new trial.
The murder defendant did represent himself at his new trial, but he was forced to wear shock sleeves under his pants so that deputies could subdue him if he became violent again. At his new trial, Mitchell argued that it was not fair that he was charged with murder when Ersland was the one who shot and killed Antwun Parker. However, regardless of his feelings about the fairness of the law, the law does, in fact, allow any person involved in the commission of a felony to be charged with murder should a death occur during the act.
Prosecutors insisted that Mitchell was culpable in Parker's death because he sent the 16-year-old into a dangerous situation by convincing him to perform an armed robbery at the drugstore.
Jurors agreed. They deliberated only 15 minutes before returning a guilty verdict and recommending an even greater sentence than the one handed down at Mitchell's first trial. Now instead of life plus 35, Emmanuel Mitchell is sentenced to life in prison without parole for first degree murder. He is also sentenced to 25 years for conspiracy and 10 years for stealing a vehicle.
