Regional News
Nebraska to free man convicted of murder in 1965
Published Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 06:26 PM
Jerry Erving Jr.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A 68-year-old man convicted of killing an Omaha bartender more than four decades ago will soon be freed from prison after the Nebraska Board of Pardons commuted his life sentence - a first for the board in nearly 20 years.

In August 1964, Jerry Erving Jr. went to an Omaha bar where his friend, Larry Hall, pulled out a gun and fatally shot the bartender. Erving then grabbed some bottles and jumped into the getaway car. Erving's attorney said they intended to rob the bar.

Erving didn't pull the trigger, but under state law he could be guilty of murder because he participated in a crime during which a murder took place. He was convicted in 1965.

Hall, who was also convicted of murder, was freed in 1983. The Pardons Board commuted his life sentence so that he would be eligible for parole during an era in which the board routinely made such decisions.

Attorney General Jon Bruning called Erving's case highly unusual, saying "it was a matter of timing and elections and changing of the guard."

The Pardons Board is made up of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state. Between 1973 and 1990, it commuted the life sentences of 32 inmates. But the last time it reduced a life sentence so a person convicted of murder could be released was in 1990, at the end of Gov. Kay Orr's term.

Erving's paperwork wasn't ready for a hearing at that time. One month later, there was a new Pardons Board with a different attitude about life sentences, according to testimony at Friday's hearing.

Had Erving asked for a commutation at the right time, he would probably be out, Bruning said.

Former Gov. Charlie Thone, who represented Erving in his request for a commutation, said he believes in mercy in situations where there has been rehabilitation and no threat to society.

"Erving served 44 years for a crime committed when he was drunk," Thone said. "He was 24 then. He is now 68."

Gov. Dave Heineman suggested Erving's life sentence be commuted to make him eligible for release Nov. 20, in time for Thanksgiving.

Erving didn't attend the hearing and learned of the board's decision during a phone call that night with his wife.

"I thought he was going to burst," Evelyn Erving said.

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