Criminal Charges Against Tiller "The Baby Killer"

[Dos Equis]

Abortion Opponent Phill Kline Files Criminal Charges Against Kansas Doctor George Tiller
Friday, December 22, 2006

TOPEKA, Kan.  —  Kansas' attorney general, a vocal abortion opponent, has filed criminal charges against Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, the doctor's attorney said Friday.

Attorney Dan Monnat did not identify the charges, and officials in Attorney General Phill Kline's office did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Tiller's clinic, known for being one of the few in the U.S. to do late-term procedures, has been a high-profile target of anti-abortion protesters for decades. The clinic was bombed in 1985, and Tiller was shot in both arms by a protester in 1993.

Kline, who lost his re-election bid in November and leaves office in three weeks, has been investigating whether Tiller and other abortion providers performed illegal late-term abortions in Kansas or failed to report suspected child abuse as required by law.

He waged a two-year legal battle before finally this year obtaining the records of 90 patients from Tiller's Wichita clinic and a clinic operated in Overland Park by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.
 
Since the election, abortion rights activists have expected him to move against Tiller and perhaps Planned Parenthood, as well.

Tiller and Planned Parenthood have repeatedly said they have committed no wrongdoing and that the patient records Kline obtained contained no evidence of crimes by either the clinics or their doctors.

"We also intend to explore any and all means of holding Kline personally responsible for his malicious actions," Monnat said.

"The filing of criminal charges by Phill Kline is the last gasp of a defeated and discredited politician," the attorney said. "Rather than executing his duty as a prosecutor to see that justice is done, he has chosen to engage in a malicious and spiteful prosecution on the eve of Christmas."

The incoming attorney general, Democrat Paul Morrison, has criticized Kline for seeking the records, describing it as an invasion of the patients' privacy, but he would not say if he would drop any investigation Kline started against the clinics.

Mark Simpson, a spokesman for Morrison, said neither he nor his aides had any information about the charges and could not comment. He said they would issue a statement once they learned the details.

The court clerk's office in Sedgwick County also said it did not have any information that it could discuss.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,238301,00.html

[Dos Equis]

Late-Term Abortion Provider on Trial for Allegedly Aborting Fetuses Illegally

Saturday, March 14, 2009

AP

WICHITA, Kan. —  For abortion opponents, the trial of one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers has been a long time coming, a chance for a little bit of justice after years of seeing their efforts thwarted.

To abortion-rights supporters, Dr. George Tiller's trial set to begin Monday is the culmination of repeated harassment, a witch hunt in which his foes have been willing to do anything and everything to gain a conviction.

Tiller and his Wichita clinic have been regular targets of anti-abortion demonstrations, including the 45-day "Summer of Mercy" event staged by Operation Rescue in 1991. His clinic was damaged by a pipe bomb in 1986, and in 1993 a protester shot him in both arms.

Abortion opponents contend Tiller illegally aborts fetuses that could survive outside the womb. 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.

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

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens has set aside three days, beginning Monday, for jury selection. Opening arguments and trial testimony are set to begin March 23.

Defense attorney Dan Monnat said he could not comment on specific trial evidence. "But we can say this: Dr. Tiller is innocent," Monnat added. "We expect the prosecution's evidence and any defense evidence to make that very, very clear."

Prosecutors contend Tiller had a financial relationship with the doctor he relied upon for his second opinion that an abortion is necessary, in violation of Kansas law. They expect to present their case in one day, and could call that physician, Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus of Nortonville, who has been granted immunity from prosecution.

"We are treating this case just like any other criminal case," said Ashley Anstaett, spokeswoman for Attorney General Steve Six, a Democrat who supports abortion rights.

Abortion opponents and abortion-rights activists plan to be out in full force for the trial.

Trucks emblazoned with graphic images of aborted fetuses are set to arrive at the courthouse an hour before jury selection starts. Operation Rescue President Troy Newman said the activists are not trying to influence jurors. Instead, he said, "We are hoping God will influence them."

Abortion-rights supporters plan to counter with their own demonstrations.

"This is just a continuation of the dog-and-pony show in trying to shut down (Tiller's) Women's Health Care Services (clinic) and trying to make women's reproductive health care inaccessible," said Julie Burkhart, a lobbyist with ProKanDo, a political action committee Tiller formed in 2002.

Opponents twice tried unsuccessfully to get grand juries to indict Tiller. Kansas is one of only six states that allow citizens to petition to create a grand jury.

They also watched as another case — brought by a former state prosecutor — was tossed out on jurisdictional grounds. Although that case was different than the current one, the medical records gathered by former Attorney General Phill Kline, a Republican, formed the basis of both prosecutions.

The current case has survived numerous legal challenges, mainly over the way in which Kline handled his investigation, which Tiller's attorneys contended was unconstitutionally selective and relied on evidence gathered illegally.

Even as Tiller's trial begins, abortion foes are pushing a bill in the Legislature that would threaten his medical license if he's convicted.

The bill would require the State Board of Healing Arts, which regulates Kansas doctors, to revoke a medical license for just one violation of the abortion law, unless two thirds of the board decides otherwise. Under current law, a license isn't revoked until a second or later offense.

"That was written specifically for him, for this case, because they are hoping to get a conviction and that would cause him to lose his license," Burkhart said.

Even as Tiller's trial begins, abortion foes are pushing two bills in the Legislature.

One would require the State Board of Healing Arts, which regulates Kansas doctors, to revoke a medical license for just one misdemeanor conviction of the late-term abortion law, unless two thirds of the board decides otherwise. Under current law, the board may revoke a license after just one conviction, but it does not have to.

While Burkhart said the bill "was written specifically" for Tiller, Kathy Ostrowski, state legislative director of Kansans for Life, said it would not affect this case because the charges were filed under the current law.

"As it stands today, the board can use even one misdemeanor conviction to investigate revocation of his license," she said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509228,00.html

[Dos Equis]

George Tiller, Kansas Doctor, Acquitted In Late-Term Abortion Case

ROXANA HEGEMAN | March 27, 2009 06:36 PM EST | AP


WICHITA, Kan. — One of the nation's few late-term abortion providers was acquitted Friday of misdemeanor charges stemming from procedures he performed, but moments after the verdict the state's medical board announced it was investigating allegations against him that are nearly identical to those the jury had rejected.

Prosecutors had alleged that Dr. George Tiller had in 2003 gotten 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.

"You would hope it would be over," said Tiller attorney Dan Monnat, "but there is a group of people who want to suppress the constitutional rights of women."

Tiller, 67, has claimed that the prosecution was politically motivated. 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.

Prosecutor Barry Disney said the case was one "that needed to be tried for the community, for everyone to have resolved."

Soon after the verdict was announced, the state's Board of Healing Arts made public a complaint against Tiller that alleges, as prosecutors did, that Tiller and Neuhaus had financial or legal ties that violated the law regarding abortions performed in 2003. 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.
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Board spokeswoman Kristi Pankratz said the criminal case and its outcome did not affect the administrative case, which will "proceed on its own merits." No hearings have been scheduled yet, she said.

Tiller has been a favored target of anti-abortion protesters, and he testified that he and his family have 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.

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 has been interpreted to include mental health.

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

Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, said abortion opponents were never confident that Tiller would be prosecuted aggressively enough by Attorney General Steve Six.

"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.

Phill 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.

Disney said his office had thoroughly investigated the case and "presented all the evidence that there was."

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.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/27/george-tiller-kansas-doct_n_180280.html