http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/28/kansas.abortion.roeder.verdict/index.html?hpt=T2
Activist Roeder convicted of abortion provider's murder
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Scott Roeder convicted of first-degree murder
* Jury reaches verdict after about 40 minutes of deliberation
* Roeder testified he does not regret killing Dr. George Tiller
* Tiller ran a women's clinic where he performed abortions in
Wichita, Kansas
(CNN) -- A Kansas jury deliberated just 37 minutes before convicting
an anti-abortion activist of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting
of an abortion provider.
The jury found Scott Roeder, 51, guilty of gunning down Dr. George
Tiller, who operated a clinic in Wichita where late-term abortions
were performed. Roeder, 51, faces life in prison when he is sentenced
on March 9.
Tiller's family said the jury reached a "just" verdict.
"At this time we hope that George can be remembered for his legacy of
service to women, the help he provided for those who needed it and the
love and happiness he provided us as a husband, father and
grandfather," the family said in a written statement.
A day earlier, Roeder told jurors he had shot Tiller in the foyer of
Reformation Lutheran Church as Sunday services began. Testifying as
his only defense witness, he said he believed he had to kill Tiller to
save lives. He said he had no regrets.
"There was nothing being done, and the legal process had been
exhausted, and these babies were dying every day," Roeder said. "I
felt that if someone did not do something, he was going to continue."
"His testimony was delivered very matter-of-factly, but its contents
were chillingly horrific," prosecutor Ann Swengel said in her closing
argument. "He carried out a planned assassination, and there can be no
other verdict in this case ... other than guilty."
Prosecutors initially fought to keep abortion out of the trial,
claiming that Tiller's death was a straightforward case of
premeditated murder.
Eventually, the abortion issue took center stage as prosecutors
portrayed Tiller as a target of Roeder's anti-abortion agenda, and
defense lawyers attempted to mitigate his culpability under the theory
that he believed Tiller's death was justified to save the lives of
others.
Defense attorney Mark Rudy told jurors in his closing argument that
Roeder "thought that the babies kept on dying" and he had to stop
Tiller from "killing more babies."
The trial drew activists from both sides of the abortion debate to the
courtroom, and a van plastered with slogans and photographs of fetuses
was parked in a prominent spot in front of the courthouse.
Among the attendees were the Rev. Michael Bray, whose history in the
anti-abortion movement includes 1985 conspiracy convictions in
connection with a string of clinic bombings, and Katherine Spillar,
executive vice president of the Feminist Majority Foundation.
Congregants from Reformation Lutheran testified that they had seen
Roeder at church several times before the day he killed Tiller by
shooting him at point-blank range in the head.
Jurors heard emotional testimony from church-goers who rushed to
Tiller's side and attempted to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
as he lay in a pool of blood. Others, meanwhile, followed Roeder into
the church parking lot, where he threatened to shoot them.
Tiller also was convicted of aggravated assault in connection with
threats he made to two ushers, Gary Hoepner and Keith Martin.
As Roeder pulled away in his car, Martin testified, something moved
him to throw the coffee cup he was holding at the vehicle.
"Frustration, I guess, lack of accomplishment, nothing else to do."
Prosecutors also called employees of the pawn shop where Roeder
purchased the .22-caliber Taurus pistol believed to have been used to
shoot Roeder. The gun was never found, but surveillance video and
receipts showed that he purchased the gun on May 18 and received it on
May 23, the week before he shot Tiller.
Roeder's defense team did not dispute much of the factual evidence.
Roeder testified that he chose to target Tiller at church because it
presented the best "window of opportunity" to attack Tiller, who
traveled in an armored vehicle and whose clinic was a "fortress."
He admitted bringing the pistol with him to Lutheran Reformation on
May 24 with the intention of shooting Tiller, but the physician did
not attend services that day. So, Roeder testified, he returned the
following week.
"He's been stopped," Roeder answered.
His testimony was intended just as much for the jury as it was to
convince Judge Warren Wilbert that evidence existed to support a
possible conviction of voluntary manslaughter. A conviction on the
lesser offense, which is defined as "an unreasonable but honest belief
that circumstances existed that justified deadly force," would have
set Roeder free from prison after five years.
Earlier in the trial, Wilbert said he would rule after hearing
evidence in the case, acknowledging that he felt the defense faced "an
uphill battle." Ultimately, he rejected the theory, saying testimony
did not support the defense claim that Roeder's beliefs justified
using deadly force against Tiller.
"There is no imminence of danger on a Sunday morning in the back of a
church, let alone any unlawful conduct, given that what Tiller did at
his clinic Monday through Friday is lawful in Kansas," the judge said.
--
Larry C. Lyons
web: http://www.lyonsmorris.com/lyons
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/larryclyons
--
The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
- B. F. Skinner -
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