A convicted murderer attacked Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater inside the courtroom Monday at the close of trial, and the two men fell fighting to the floor at the feet of the victim's mother.What relevance there is to David Prater being a former police officer, no one knows, but the Oklahoman has certainly warmed up to Prater after he made the decision to prosecute Jerome Ersland with 1st Degree Murder. Ersland is the pharmacist who was robbed at gunpoint and defended himself against the armed robbers and ended up killing one of the young men who robbed him.
Prater, a former police officer, was punched in the face. He then pushed Emanuel D. “E Man” Mitchell toward a wooden rail that splits the courtroom in two. They fell through a swinging gate, their upper bodies landing inside the spectators' section.
The defendants in his case have been found guilty of murder as well as other crimes, but Ersland is being prosecuted for 1st Degree Murder. Doesn't quite make sense, does it? If you recall, there was quite a bit of distaste over this prosecution until conservatives started asking questions and then, well, the Oklahoman stepped up to the plate to defend District Attorney Prater.
Probably had nothing to do whatsoever with Prater's support of the MAPS tax increases or his prosecution of the Oklahoman's "Most Wanted Man - Representative Randy Terrill." Of course not.