Scott Roeder GUILTY 1st Degree Murder of Dr. Tiller
The jury took only 37 minutes to deliver a guilty verdict in the case of Scott Roeder. Not only did they unanimously find (state polled jury) him guilty of the 1st degree murder of Dr. George Tiller, they found him guilty on the lesser charges of the aggravated assault of Gary Hoepner and Keith Martin. After killing Dr. Tiller, Roeder pointed the gun at both Hoepner and Martin, threatening to shoot if he were followed.
Prosecutor Kim Parker: "Hopefully this sends a clear message that his type of conduct is not acceptable."Public Defender Rudy: "Everything we had, since day one, we were aiming for the manslaughter." Then the judge give not give the jury the option of voluntary manslaughter. "It was crushing," Rudy said.
Sentencing is set for March 9th.
Now, on to the federal investigation under the FACE act.
NOTE - Quotes via Wichita Eagle reporter: @rsylvester on Twitter
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Kerry Lauerman
Jeanette DeMain
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Comments
RIP Dr. Tiller
My faith in the Land Of OZ is restored!
Far out, and thanks for the ongoing coverage Akopsa
He had the nerve to say "two wrongs don't make a right" during the trial. Murderer. Hypocrite.
Self-righteous is always wrong.
And I am very encouraged about the FACE Act.
Yes, Rest in Peace, Dr. Tiller. [I'm wearing my Trust Women bracelet as we speak.]
This case puts the problem of religion in America into high relief. We're creating a nation of superstitious know-nothings who, increasingly, occupy the seats of power. Roeder is a victim of religiosity and bad medical care and his case points up the necessity for providing adequate mental health care for all our citizens since it's always the ones who need it most, and don't get it, who shoot us in the head when our backs are turned.
Akopsa did excellent work bringing this case to our attention and keeping it there, demonstrating one of the good uses to which this technology should be put.
Congratulations on that.
Paul Haider, Chicago
P.S. Why is it that the pro-life supporters are usually the very same people who you wouldn't want to have sex with in the first place? Now, that's ironic!
Rated.
1) they will not stop, this much we know.
But the reason the judge disallowed the jury to consider voluntary man slaughter was because there was no "imminent" threat. So the question becomes
2) would that consideration have been allowed had Roeder carried out this act as Tiller walked into his clinic one day for work?
The defense argued that Roeder believed he had to act in this way to prevent further deaths. The fact is that this line of argument was disallowed because no deaths were imminent on that Sunday morning before church services. Legally, how are we to define imminent and would a procedure scheduled at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday morning provide a VM defense for a murder of the provider at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning?
We are still in very dangerous territory here IMO.
I do worry that there will be more copycat crimes like this, but the rapid sentence and the clear evidence that the bulk of Americans of any persuasion on the abortion issue do not condone murder will, hopefully, reduce that likelihood.