• Mar 28, 2009
  • Associated Press
  • -
  • by Roxana Hegeman

George Tiller was acquitted Friday of misdemeanor charges stemming from late-term abortions he performed, but moments after the verdict was announced the state’s medical board announced it was investigating similar allegations against him.

Prosecutors had alleged that in 2003 Tiller had received second opinions from a doctor who was essentially an employee of his, not independent, as state law requires. But a jury took only about an hour to find him not guilty of all 19 counts.

Tiller, who could have faced a year in jail for even one conviction, stared straight ahead as the verdicts were read, with one of his attorneys patting his shoulder after the decision on the final count was declared. His wife, seated across the courtroom, fought back tears and nodded. The couple declined to speak to reporters afterward.

An attorney for Tiller, Dan Monnat, said the doctor was relieved but noted that he still faces opposition from anti-abortion groups.

Prosecutor Barry Disney said it was “a case that needed to be tried for the community, for everyone to have resolved.”

Tiller, 67, has claimed that the prosecution was politically motivated. Phill Kline, an attorney general who opposed abortion rights, began the investigation into Tiller’s clinic more than four years ago. But both his successor, who filed the criminal charges, and the current attorney general support abortion rights.

Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansas for Life, said abortion opponents were never confident that Tiller would be prosecuted aggressively enough by Steve Six, the current attorney general.

“Even if Tiller had been found guilty, he would have appealed to the Supreme Court,” Culp said, noting that four of the Kansas high court’s seven justices were appointed by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who supports abortion rights.

Soon after the verdict was announced, the state’s Board of Healing Arts made public a complaint against Tiller on allegations similar to those at issue in the criminal case. The complaint was filed in December but not released until Friday.

The board, which regulates doctors, could revoke, suspend or limit Tiller’s medical license, or fine him.

Monnat said they have known about the pending administrative matter since it was filed. He said that in many respects it mirrors the criminal accusations of which Tiller was found not guilty.

“With Dr. Tiller’s acquittal today, we will now be able to give our full attention and cooperation to the Board of Healing Arts in order to work together toward a similar resolution of this administrative matter,” Monnat said.

Kansas law allows abortions after a fetus can survive outside the womb only if two independent doctors agree that it is necessary to save a woman’s life or prevent “substantial and irreversible” harm to “a major bodily function,” a phrase that has been interpreted to include mental health.

Physician Ann Kristin Neuhaus provided second opinions on late-term abortions before Tiller performed them.

The complaint before the healing arts board cites 11 late-term abortions Tiller performed in 2003 on patients ranging in age from 10 to 18. It alleges that Tiller and Neuhaus had financial or legal ties that violated the law.

Board spokeswoman Kristi Pankratz said the agency would move forward with the disciplinary petition despite Tiller’s acquittal. No hearings have been scheduled yet, she said.

According to testimony at his criminal trial in Wichita, Tiller’s patients paid Neuhaus $250 to $300 in cash for providing the consultation. The only way patients could see her was to make an appointment with Tiller’s office.

In closing arguments, prosecutors portrayed Tiller as a smart businessman who intentionally created an illegal relationship with Neuhaus to make his clinic a “one-stop shop” for late-term abortions. The defense sought to show he was a caring physician concerned about the convenience and safety of his patients.

Tiller testified that he used Neuhaus based on advice from his lawyers and from Larry Buening, who was then executive director of the Board of Healing Arts.

Prosecutors tried to show that Tiller ultimately relied on his lawyers’ advice — an important distinction because the judge told attorneys before their opening statements that relying on the advice of an attorney cannot be used as a legal defense to criminal charges. They also questioned Tiller about the conversation with Buening, noting that Tiller had testified that Buening said he couldn’t quote him.

Tiller also testified that in about five cases each year, Neuhaus would disagree with him about the necessity of a late-term abortion. When she declined to concur, the abortion was not done, he said. Tiller estimated that he performed 250 to 300 late-term abortions in 2003.

Kline, the former attorney general who started the investigation, expressed frustration at the prosecutors who tried the case, noting that their only witness was Neuhaus.

“You do not win cases nor achieve justice by calling one witness and ordering your staff not to initiate any additional effort to gather evidence,” Kline said in a written statement.

But Disney said his office thoroughly investigated the case and obtained all of Tiller’s bank records and other available evidence.

“We presented all the evidence that there was,” he said.

All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press

  • Mar 27, 2009
  • Associated Press

Jurors today acquitted one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers on charges he violated Kansas law requiring an independent, second opinion for the procedure.

Dr. George Tiller was found not guilty of 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from some abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. Prosecutors had alleged that a doctor he used for second opinions was essentially an employee of his and not independent as state law requires.

If convicted, Tiller had faced a year in jail or a fine of $2,500 for each misdemeanor charge. Tiller, 67, stared straight ahead as the verdicts were read, with one of his attorneys patting his shoulder after the decision on the final count was declared. His wife, seated across the courtroom, fought back tears and nodded. The couple refused to speak to reporters afterward.

Tiller’s troubles may not be over. Moments after the verdict was announced, the state’s Board of Healing Arts made public a complaint against Tiller on similar allegations. The board, which regulates doctors, could revoke, suspend or limit his medical license, or fine him.

The complaint was filed in December but not released until today.

Kansas law allows abortions after a fetus can survive outside the womb only if two independent doctors agree that it is necessary to save a women’s life or prevent “substantial and irreversible” harm to “a major bodily function,” a phrase that’s been interpreted to include mental health.

Jurors took only about an hour to reach their verdict after getting the case earlier today.

Tiller claimed the prosecution was politically motivated. An attorney general who opposed abortion rights began the investigation into Tiller’s clinic, but both his successor, who filed the criminal charges, and the current attorney general support abortion rights.

Tiller has been a favored target of anti-abortion protesters, and he testified that he and his family had suffered years of harassment and threats. His clinic was the site of the 1991 “Summer of Mercy” protests marked by mass demonstrations and arrests. His clinic was bombed in 1985, and an abortion opponent shot him in both arms in 1993.

Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus provided second opinions on late-term abortions before Tiller performed them.

According to trial testimony, Tiller’s patients paid Neuhaus $250 to $300 in cash for providing the consultation and the only way patients could see her was to make an appointment with Tiller’s office.

Tiller testified that he used Neuhaus based on advice from his lawyers and from Larry Buening, who was then executive director of the Board of Healing Arts.

Prosecutors tried to show that Tiller ultimately relied on his lawyers’ advice — an important distinction because the judge told attorneys before their opening statements that relying on the advice of an attorney cannot be used as a legal defense to criminal charges.

Prosecutors also questioned Tiller about the conversation with Buening, noting that Tiller had testified that Buening said he couldn’t quote him.

Prosecutor Barry Disney asked Tiller whether it was reasonable for him to rely on something that a person has said he would not back up. Tiller insisted it was.

“It might be embarrassing for it to be public knowledge,” Tiller said.

Tiller also testified that in about five cases each year, Neuhaus would disagree with him about the necessity of a late-term abortion. When she declined to concur, the abortion was not done, he said.

Tiller estimated that he performed 250 to 300 late-term abortions in 2003, each costing an average of $6,000.

Tiller said he is one of three doctors in the U.S. who currently perform late-term abortions. The others are in Boulder, Colo., and Los Angeles, he said.

All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

Associated Press

  • Mar 27, 2009
  • The New York Times
  • -
  • by Joe Stumpe

WICHITA, Kan. — After years of investigations and four days of testimony, jurors here took just 45 minutes on Friday to acquit a controversial abortion doctor of charges that he performed 19 illegal late-term abortions in 2003.

Kansas law permits late-term abortions when two independent doctors agree that the pregnant woman would be irreparably harmed by giving birth Prosecutors charged that the doctor, George Tiller, had an improper financial relationship with a doctor from Lawrence, Kristin Neuhaus, who provided a second opinion in the 19 cases cited.

Dr. Tiller’s clinic is one of three in the United States that perform late-term abortions, and he has been reviled by anti-abortion forces for decades. In 1986, a bomb exploded on the roof of his clinic here, Women’s Health Care Services. In 1991, some 2,000 protesters were arrested outside during summer-long protests; in 1993, Dr. Tiller was shot in both arms by an anti-abortion activist while driving away from the clinic. Protests continue there almost daily.

“It’s been a long ordeal for his patients, Dr. Tiller and his family,” the lead defense lawyer, Dan Monnat, said Friday outside the courtroom. “They’re just happy it’s over.” Dr. Tiller could have faced a year in jail and a $2,500 fine on each of 19 counts. Two dozen law officers stationed themselves in the courtroom to maintain order as the verdict was read, and spectators, most of whom identified themselves as abortion opponents, were searched before entering. A few appeared to pray, but there were no outbursts. Anti-abortion protesters demonstrated outside the courthouse all week.

The Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington, called the verdict “a setback.” Mr. Mahoney said that had jurors voted for conviction, “they would have put him out of business.” But Mr. Mahoney, who had predicted that the trial would “energize” anti-abortion forces, said it was a “very technical case” that was not relevant to other legal and legislative challenges to abortion.

Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney, who prosecuted Dr. Tiller, said the quick verdict probably resulted from the fact that the issue before jurors was clear and concise. “There wasn’t a lot for them to go back there and argue,” Mr. Disney said.

During testimony, both Dr. Tiller and Dr. Neuhaus, the only witness called by prosecutors, denied that there was anything improper about their financial relationship. Dr. Neuhaus testified that she misspoke during a 2006 deposition when she called herself a “full-time consultant” for Dr. Tiller. The trial is not the end of Dr. Tiller’s legal problems. The state Board of Healing Arts is investigating a complaint that mirrors the accusations made in the trial.

The New York Times – By Joe Stumpe


  • Mar 27, 2009
  • KSN.com

WICHITA, Kansas  It took years to bring the case to trial, but it took a jury less than an hour of deliberating to find Dr. George Tiller not guilty of the 19 charges he faced for allegedly breaking Kansas’ late-term abortion law.

We have just been looking for someone brave enough to say ‘this has to stop, Dr. Tiller is not guilty’ and now we have found those six brave people in the jury that reached a verdict of not guilty on all counts, said Tiller’s attorney, Dan Monnat.

KSN.com

  • Mar 26, 2009
  • Associated Press
  • -
  • by Roxana Hegeman

Defense lawyers rested Thursday in the trial of one of the nation’s few providers of late-term abortions, and jurors were told to return Friday.

Dr. George Tiller is on trial in Sedgwick County District Court on 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. He is accused of breaking a state law requiring that two Kansas physicians without legal or financial ties sign off on any late-term procedure.

After the defense rested Thursday, jurors were sent home while attorneys hashed out jury instructions and other issues. Jurors were told to return Friday for closing arguments.

On Wednesday, testified that he relied on advice from his lawyers and a Kansas official before getting second opinions that prosecutors say were illegal.

Tiller recalled a June 1999 conversation with Larry Buening, who was then the executive director of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, which regulates doctors. Tiller testified that Buening suggested he use Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus for second opinions with the caveat he could not be quoted saying it.

Tiller testified Buening implied Neuhaus could “come down” to his clinic to meet with his patients.

“He said, ‘Why don’t you use Kris Neuhaus and that will take care of all of your problems?'” Tiller testified.

Under cross examination, Tiller said he relied on what Buening told him but acknowledged he later sought legal advice from his attorneys. When pressed, he said he ultimately relied on his attorneys’ advice.

That distinction is important to the prosecution because the judge told both sides before the trial began that relying on the advice of an attorney cannot be used as a legal defense to criminal charges.

The attorney whom Tiller consulted, Rachael Pirner, testified Wednesday that she advised Tiller on what he needed to do to avoid a legal and financial affiliation with Neuhaus.

“We relied on the representation of Larry Buening in giving our advice to our client,” Pirner said.

Prosecutor Barry Disney has described Neuhaus as essentially a Tiller employee whose only income in 2003 came from patients she saw at Tiller’s clinic. Disney rested his case Tuesday after calling Neuhaus as his sole witness.

When Disney questioned Tiller on Wednesday about the conversation with Buening, Tiller replied: “When she was working for me – correction, when she was providing consultations for the patient …”

Kansas law allows abortions after a fetus can survive outside the womb only if two independent doctors agree that it is necessary to save a women’s life or prevent “substantial and irreversible” harm to “a major bodily function,” a phrase that’s been interpreted to include mental health.

Tiller, 67, said Neuhaus had no financial or legal interest in his clinic and that consultations were done there for the convenience and safety of the patients and physicians.

The defense entered into evidence Tiller’s daily planner, which included notes of the conversation with Buening.

“He said I couldn’t quote him,” Tiller testified. “I made notes of it.”

Based on Buening’s assurances, Tiller said, he decided not to file a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the statute requiring two Kansas physicians to sign off on late-term abortions.

Disney questioned Tiller about whether it was reasonable for him to rely on something that a person has said he would not back up. Tiller insisted it was.

“It might be embarrassing for it to be public knowledge,” Tiller said.

The prosecution also pressed Pirner on the stand Thursday over whether Tiller told her at the time that Buening would not publicly acknowledge that conversation. She said she did not remember that, and her notes did not indicate it.

But she said she would still have advised her client to rely on Buening’s assurances had she known because the Buening and Tiller had “a relationship that goes back for quite a ways.” Pirner said she felt Buening had the authority to tell a physician what he was doing legal.

Tiller testified that he and Neuhaus agreed in 1999 that she would charge patients $250 for consultations and come to his clinic one day a week. He wrote in his planner that day: “Kris glad to do this. Needed the money.”

He said that in about five cases each year, Neuhaus would disagree with him about the necessity of a late-term abortion. When she declined to concur, the abortion was not done, Tiller testified.

Tiller estimated that he performed 250 to 300 late-term abortions in 2003, each costing an average of $6,000.

Tiller said he is one of three doctors in the U.S. who currently perform late-term abortions. The others are in Boulder, Colo., and Los Angeles, he said.

He also told jurors that he and his family have suffered years of harassment and threats from anti-abortion protesters. His clinic was the site of the 1991 “Summer of Mercy” protests marked by mass demonstrations and arrests. His clinic was bombed in 1985, and an abortion opponent shot him in both arms in 1993.

He said federal marshals protected him during the 1991 abortion protests and from 1994 to 1998, after another abortion provider was assassinated and federal authorities reported finding his name on an assassination list.

—

Case is State v. Tiller, No. 07CR2112 in Sedgwick County.

All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press

  • Mar 25, 2009
  • Associated Press
  • -
  • by Roxana Hegeman

Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday against abortion provider George Tiller after calling as their lone witness the consulting physician who provided the second opinion required by Kansas law for late-term abortions.

Tiller’s lawyers were to begin presenting their evidence today. They will try to show that Tiller had no improper financial or legal connections with Ann Kristin Neuhaus, from whom he regularly sought second opinions on late-term abortions.

The defense moved for an acquittal after the state rested Tuesday, arguing the prosecution failed to present enough evidence to support a guilty verdict.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens rejected the motion, finding there was adequate evidence of financial ties between Tiller and Neuhaus to send the question to the jury. Owens questioned the adequacy of evidence of a legal affiliation between the doctors, but said he would address that matter in jury instructions.

Tiller went on trial Monday on 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. He is accused of breaking a state law requiring that an independent Kansas physician sign off on any late-term abortion.

Prosecutors described Neuhaus as essentially a Tiller employee whose only income at the time came from patients she saw at Tiller’s clinic.

The defense argued she only came to his clinic for the convenience and safety of patients, pointing out she paid for her own expenses, such as malpractice insurance and travel costs. Tiller’s patients paid Neuhaus a cash consultation fee of $250 to $300.

Prosecutors on Tuesday tried to cast doubt on Neuhaus’ testimony that such consultations were common between physicians by bringing up a discussion she had with Tiller about her fees when he was recruiting her. The prosecution was trying to show that independent physicians don’t discuss their fees with other doctors for referrals.

But Neuhaus insisted she could not remember whether she had ever discussed with Tiller her consulting fee, even after being shown notes Tiller purportedly took during a conversation over her fees.

Neuhaus acknowledged in later testimony that she had “an agreement” with Tiller whereby she would charge patients an agreed amount and he would start referring his abortion patients to her.

Neuhaus first testified about her relationship with Tiller in a 2006 inquisition under a grant of immunity from former Attorney General Phill Kline, whose investigation of Tiller formed the basis for the current charges against him.

The current attorney general, Stephen Six, also granted her immunity two months ago.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Dan Monnat, Neuhaus said she sometimes declined to concur with a late-term abortion. She testified she was not aware of any abortion that Tiller performed after she refused to consent to it, but added she would have no way of knowing.

Neuhaus acknowledged that she had restrictions on her medical license after a disciplinary complaint was filed, but jurors were told few details other than it involved anesthesia practices.

Neuhaus was accused in 2001 of performing an abortion after a patient withdrew permission. Under an agreement with the State Board of Healing Arts, she changed her consent forms and addressed the board’s concerns about how she kept records and administered sedatives.

All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press

  • Mar 24, 2009
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Ron Sylvester

The prosecution’s only witness said Monday she did not have a full-time business relationship with Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

The denial strikes at the main issue that has Tiller on trial in Sedgwick County District Court, charged with 19 misdemeanors.

Prosecutor Barry Disney indicated that Kristen Neuhaus changed her story from what she told another assistant state attorney general more than two years ago.

Neuhaus said that prosecutor Steve Maxwell — a deputy to then-Attorney General Phill Kline — so harshly interrogated her during a secret hearing that she’s not sure what she said.

That marked the first day’s testimony in the case against Tiller in a trial to decide whether he violated a Kansas law regulating late-term abortions.

The trial is being watched by abortion opponents across the country.

“This is the biggest trial in the history of Kansas,” Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, Washington D.C., told some two dozen people in front of the Courthouse on Monday morning.

Tiller is charged with having an improper business relationship with Neuhaus during 19 late-term abortions in 2003. Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors, one for each of those abortions.

“I would be asked to evaluate the patients and see if their pregnancy constituted a substantial and irreversible threat to their health,” Neuhaus testified.

That wording -“substantial and irreversible” – is important. By law, two physicians must make that determination before a woman can undergo an abortion in cases where the fetus could survive outside the womb.

Both sides agree that all 19 of the abortions in question were performed after Tiller had determined the fetus was viable and that the pregnancy put the mother’s mental or physical health in danger.

Each time, Neuhaus signed off as the second opinion.

Neuhaus testified she began doing such consulting on late-term abortion cases at Tiller’s Women’s Healthcare Services Clinic in Wichita in 1999.

“Would you agree that right around 2003 that you became a full-time consultant for the defendant?” Disney asked.

“No, I did not,” Neuhaus said.

On Dec. 8, 2006, Maxwell asked Neuhaus the same question during an investigation into Kansas abortion clinics.

“This was the years right after he was shot,” Neuhaus said in a transcript Disney showed to the jury. “I became a full-time consultant.”

“I did use that word,” she said Monday.

But she said she misspoke.

“I was the only one doing consultations,” she said. “I should have said ‘only.’ ”

Neuhaus said her 2006 testimony came during a contentious hearing as part of what prosecutors term an inquisition. That’s an investigation into whether a law has been broken.

“I was being interrogated for four hours,” she said. “I was probably distraught. I don’t know why I said some of these things.”

Neuhaus, who ran a medical practice in the Lawrence area, said she only came to Wichita to do consultations at Tiller’s clinic once a week for half a day.

“I wouldn’t call that full-time,” she said.

To convict Tiller, the state must show that he had an improper legal or financial relationship with Neuhaus.

“This case isn’t about abortion,” Disney told the jury in his opening statements Monday morning.

It’s about their business relationship, he said.

“It’s about this defendant intentionally setting up this relationship, so he could continue business as usual,” Disney said.

Tiller is one of the few doctors in the world who performs late-term abortions, his lawyer Dan Monnat said in his opening address.

Monnat contends Tiller did not pay Neuhaus or control her medical opinions. Although she visited with patients at the Wichita clinic, she sometimes did not sign off on Tiller’s original diagnosis, Monnat said.

“The evidence will show that the prosecution’s theory makes no legal, medical or common sense,” Monnat said.

The jury may not get to consider Monnat’s theory for the defense, however.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens took under advisement how he would rule on Monnat’s defense that Tiller was acting on advice from his lawyer at the time and the Kansas Board of Healing Arts.

Monnat said the state’s medical licensing board recommended Tiller use Neuhaus for his second opinions in 1999. Tiller’s then-lawyer, Wichita attorney Rachael Pirner, agreed.

Neuhaus had been working as an abortion provider in the Lawrence and Kansas City areas since the mid-1990s.

Monnat said the state can’t prosecute someone for a crime for following its recommendation.

Owens said the law allows advice of counsel or “ignorance of the law” to be used as a defense in a limited number of cases.

Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-6514 or [email protected]. All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

  • Mar 23, 2009
  • Associated Press
  • -
  • by Roxana Hegeman

The trial of one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers began Monday with defense attorneys trying to cast doubt on whether the doctor intentionally broke a state law requiring that an independent physician sign off on the procedure.

Dan Monnat, a defense attorney for Dr. George Tiller, told jurors in his opening statement that Tiller relied on advice from the state medical board’s director and one of his lawyers when he used Dr. Kristin Neuhaus as a second opinion for some abortions.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors alleging he failed to obtain a second opinion for some late-term abortions in 2003 from a physician with whom he had no legal or financial relationship.

Kansas law allows late-term abortions if two doctors agree that it is necessary to save a women’s life or prevent “substantial and irreversible” harm to “a major bodily function,” a phrase that’s been interpreted to include mental health.

Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney told jurors in his opening statements that Tiller recruited Neuhaus in 1999, making his Wichita clinic a “one-stop shop” for women seeking abortions. He said that Neuhaus was essentially an employee of Tiller, that the two were so close they had a legal and financial relationship prohibited by the law.

“No one is above the law. It doesn’t matter how just someone feels their cause is,” Disney said.

Monnat told jurors that Larry Buening, then-executive director of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts,

suggested to Tiller in July 1999 that he use Neuhaus as a second opinion. He said Buening told Tiller the discussion was “off the record” and told him that if asked about it he would deny it.

Buening did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press for comment.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens noted earlier in the day that Kansas does not allow ignorance of the law or advice of counsel as a valid defense. He told attorneys he would likely uphold any objections prosecutors had to evidence that would support such arguments.

Monnat told jurors that the board “recognized and approved” Tiller’s relationship with Neuhaus until 2006, when abortion became a campaign issue in the attorney general’s race.

Disney told the jury that Tiller provided Neuhaus with legal advice from his attorney, including writing for her the referral form letter used to provide that second opinion. He said Neuhaus was paid by patients between $250 and $300 in cash for her consultations.

“By 2003, Dr. Neuhaus was a full-time consultant for the defendant,” Disney said. “That is all she did. She had no other job, no other source of income.”

All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press Writer

  • Mar 18, 2009
  • Associated Press
  • -
  • by Roxana Hegeman

Jury selection in the criminal trial of George Tiller entered its second day Tuesday, with both sides working to seat a panel with members willing to set aside their personal views about abortion.

One juror was dismissed early Tuesday after telling attorneys she signed a citizen petition demanding a grand jury investigation of Tiller and acknowledging her sister was a frequent abortion protester at his Wichita clinic.

Another was dismissed in the afternoon after he told attorneys he didn’t know whether he could overlook his anti-abortion beliefs.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors alleging that he failed to obtain a second opinion for late-term abortions from an independent physician, as required by Kansas law. If convicted, he could face a year in county jail or a fine of $2,500 for each charge.

The jury pool will be cut to six jurors and two alternates today. Opening statements and trial testimony will begin Monday.

Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney told prospective jurors that prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that Tiller performed the 19 late-term abortions and that he was required to obtain a second, independent opinion. Jurors need only decide whether Ann Kristin Neuhaus, the doctor who provided Tiller with second opinions, had a financial or legal relationship with him, Disney said.

Prosecutors contend Tiller broke the law because he had a financial relationship with Neuhaus, who has been granted immunity from prosecution and could testify.

Defense attorney Dan Monnat hinted at the defense strategy by saying Tiller has never “knowingly or intentionally” been financially affiliated with the doctor who provided second opinions.

All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

BY ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press

  • Mar 17, 2009
  • Associated Press
  • -
  • by Roxana Hexeman

Defense attorneys hint at their strategy while questioning potential jurors.

Potential jurors in the trial of George Tiller were told Monday to set aside their personal views about abortion, and at least one was dismissed after she said she couldn’t.

“This trial is not a debate about abortion,” Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney told prospective jurors as jury selection began in Sedgwick County District Court. “It is not about whether abortion is right or wrong…. This trial is about whether the defendant has violated the law.”

Tiller, one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers, is charged with 19 misdemeanors alleging he failed to obtain a second opinion for late-term abortions from an independent physician, as required by Kansas law. If convicted, he could face a year in jail or a fine of $2,500 for each misdemeanor charge.

Defense attorney Dan Monnat hinted at the defense strategy while questioning the potential jurors by saying Tiller has never been “knowingly or intentionally” financially affiliated with the doctor who provided second opinions.

Tiller’s defense attorneys say he is innocent and have called his prosecution a “hyper-technical political trial.” They have said they will appeal if he is convicted.

Tiller and his clinic have been a target of abortion opponents for decades. His clinic was bombed in 1985, and an abortion opponent shot him in both arms in 1993.

Wichita also was the site of the 45-day “Summer of Mercy” event staged by Operation Rescue in 1991. Those mass demonstrations and clinic blockades led to more than 2,600 arrests.

Abortion opponents plan prayer vigils during the trial. Several prayed outside the courthouse Monday. Abortion-rights supporters also plan demonstrations.

Disney told prospective jurors that prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that Tiller performed the 19 late-term abortions and that he was required to obtain a second, independent opinion. Jurors need only decide whether Ann Kristin Neuhaus, the doctor who provided Tiller with second opinions, had a financial or legal relationship with him, Disney said.

Neuhaus, who has been granted immunity from prosecution, could testify.

One potential juror was dismissed after she said she was biased against Tiller and would find it hard to let go of her anti-abortion views.

Another was let go after he insisted he didn’t “want to be a part of it,” saying he has seen too much about the case in the media. A third man was dismissed because he did not understand English well.

Jury selection continues today and Wednesday.

All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press