HankT
State Researcher
imported post
I always wonder, in many shooting reportings, why they neglect to report on whether the shooter was carrying legally under a permit or not and whether the gun used was legal.
The guy claimsself defense but the circumstantial evidence seems to cast doubt on that.
It would be beneficial to know ifErvin was an illegal carrier of a gun (a criminal) or a legal carrier of a gun. As this story is connected to legal guncarriers in general, the former would be good, the latter, bad.
Ervin says gunfire at police was in defense
Also denies drug charge; prosecution says he ran
Saturday, July 28, 2007
ERIC VELASCONews staff writer
The Birmingham News
Derrick Phillip Ervin denied Friday that he is a drug dealer and told jurors in his Jefferson County trial that he fired in self-defense during a gun battle with a Birmingham police officer in an alley behind the Patio Club apartments in February 2006.
But a prosecutor in Ervin's drug trafficking and attempted murder trial said Ervin was at the highest level of drug dealers.
After the gun battle, police found 40 pounds of cocaine in an apartment at the complex rented by a co-defendant, Carl Sims. Almost $178,000 was inside Ervin's truck in the alley.
Late Friday, Circuit Judge Alfred Bahakel let the jurors go home until Monday, when he will explain the law and they will deliberate. Ervin faces life without parole if he is convicted of trafficking that much cocaine.
Sims pleaded guilty and testified against Ervin. A third defendant, Donald Curtis Lundy, will be tried later.
Lundy, a former Fairfield police captain, is an investigator for the district attorney in Bessemer. He was reassigned to desk duty after his arrest.
The special prosecutors assigned to the case, Rea Clark and Kenneth Gibbs, said Friday that Ervin was the top man in the group, Sims was one of his sellers and Lundy was "a dirty badge" providing protection.
Defense attorney Brett Bloomston told jurors that Ervin was a legitimate businessman. Stanford never identified himself as a police officer in the alley, and Ervin opened fire to protect Lundy because Stanford started shooting at his friend.
But Stanford and the other two officers testified that Stanford identified himself and had his badge out when he approached the men. Ervin fired first, they testified. Officer Earnest Lockett testified he shot at Lundy because he was pointing his gun at Stanford's back.
In his closing argument Friday, Gibbs dismissed the self-defense claim. He said that Ervin fled, emptied the shells out of his .357-caliber revolver before hiding it, made three phone calls, then hid himself before police tracked him down.
"Is this what a person does when they're acting in self-defense?" Gibbs said. "Or is this what a guilty man does when he shoots a cop and runs?"
Moving some clothes:
Ervin explained to jurors why his finger and palm print were found on two of the cocaine packages. He said they were sitting on the couch under clothes when he picked them up so he could sit down. He didn't know they were cocaine.
Ervin testified that the cash was repayment for an investment he had made in a Houston nightclub. Ervin said he carried the cash-stuffed bag to work and to Sims' apartment over the next five days.
"They don't believe in checks?" Gibbs asked jurors, saying a legitimate businessman wouldn't act that way. "He said he had been robbed before. So he goes to a drug-infested area with $178,000?"
Bloomston said the prosecution case was "fraught with reasonable doubt." Police witnesses tailored their testimony to ensure a conviction, he said.
"That was a lot of dope and a lot of money," Bloomston told jurors. "They wanted to get Donald Lundy and they wanted to get Derrick Ervin."
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1185618085266560.xml&coll=2
I always wonder, in many shooting reportings, why they neglect to report on whether the shooter was carrying legally under a permit or not and whether the gun used was legal.
The guy claimsself defense but the circumstantial evidence seems to cast doubt on that.
It would be beneficial to know ifErvin was an illegal carrier of a gun (a criminal) or a legal carrier of a gun. As this story is connected to legal guncarriers in general, the former would be good, the latter, bad.
Ervin says gunfire at police was in defense
Also denies drug charge; prosecution says he ran
Saturday, July 28, 2007
ERIC VELASCONews staff writer
The Birmingham News
Derrick Phillip Ervin denied Friday that he is a drug dealer and told jurors in his Jefferson County trial that he fired in self-defense during a gun battle with a Birmingham police officer in an alley behind the Patio Club apartments in February 2006.
But a prosecutor in Ervin's drug trafficking and attempted murder trial said Ervin was at the highest level of drug dealers.
After the gun battle, police found 40 pounds of cocaine in an apartment at the complex rented by a co-defendant, Carl Sims. Almost $178,000 was inside Ervin's truck in the alley.
Late Friday, Circuit Judge Alfred Bahakel let the jurors go home until Monday, when he will explain the law and they will deliberate. Ervin faces life without parole if he is convicted of trafficking that much cocaine.
Sims pleaded guilty and testified against Ervin. A third defendant, Donald Curtis Lundy, will be tried later.
Lundy, a former Fairfield police captain, is an investigator for the district attorney in Bessemer. He was reassigned to desk duty after his arrest.
The special prosecutors assigned to the case, Rea Clark and Kenneth Gibbs, said Friday that Ervin was the top man in the group, Sims was one of his sellers and Lundy was "a dirty badge" providing protection.
Defense attorney Brett Bloomston told jurors that Ervin was a legitimate businessman. Stanford never identified himself as a police officer in the alley, and Ervin opened fire to protect Lundy because Stanford started shooting at his friend.
But Stanford and the other two officers testified that Stanford identified himself and had his badge out when he approached the men. Ervin fired first, they testified. Officer Earnest Lockett testified he shot at Lundy because he was pointing his gun at Stanford's back.
In his closing argument Friday, Gibbs dismissed the self-defense claim. He said that Ervin fled, emptied the shells out of his .357-caliber revolver before hiding it, made three phone calls, then hid himself before police tracked him down.
"Is this what a person does when they're acting in self-defense?" Gibbs said. "Or is this what a guilty man does when he shoots a cop and runs?"
Moving some clothes:
Ervin explained to jurors why his finger and palm print were found on two of the cocaine packages. He said they were sitting on the couch under clothes when he picked them up so he could sit down. He didn't know they were cocaine.
Ervin testified that the cash was repayment for an investment he had made in a Houston nightclub. Ervin said he carried the cash-stuffed bag to work and to Sims' apartment over the next five days.
"They don't believe in checks?" Gibbs asked jurors, saying a legitimate businessman wouldn't act that way. "He said he had been robbed before. So he goes to a drug-infested area with $178,000?"
Bloomston said the prosecution case was "fraught with reasonable doubt." Police witnesses tailored their testimony to ensure a conviction, he said.
"That was a lot of dope and a lot of money," Bloomston told jurors. "They wanted to get Donald Lundy and they wanted to get Derrick Ervin."
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1185618085266560.xml&coll=2
