Roeder’s lawyers request new trial, and I hope he gets it
Before researching Scott Roeder’s trial for the murder of late-term abortionist George Tiller, I thought pro-aborts were paying such close attention to proceedings simply to try to magnify the event as a PR stunt to implicate all pro-lifers.
After researching, I realized much of the reason pro-aborts were watching the trial so closely was to guard their interests….
Should Roeder have been found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, of “an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justify deadly force,” or worse, acquitted by the “necessity” defense, because he “reasonably believe[d] … deadly force [was] necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to … a 3rd person,” all laws protecting abortion would have been in danger of collapse.
I must add I fear such a ruling might have led to an outbreak of vigilantism against abortion workers.
Still, I believe Scott Roeder was denied his right to a fair trial solely because his reason for murdering Tiller was that Tiller aborted babies for a living.
All that was to get to this February 8 Associated Press story, which my WorldNetDaily.com column last week dovetails into. BTW, if the corrupt KS Supremes are the final arbiters of this case, Roeder is sunk…
Attorneys for Scott Roeder… have asked a judge for a new trial or Roeder’s acquittal, arguing that the judge was wrong when he didn’t instruct jurors that they could consider the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter….
It is unlikely that District Judge Warren Wilbert will reverse himself on his own rulings when he hears arguments on it March 9, the same day he sentences Roeder for 1st-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Of greater importance will be the opinion of the KS Supreme Court when it ultimately considers during the appeal whether the judge erred in keeping jurors from considering a voluntary manslaughter conviction….
In addition to contending that the court may have erred in instructing jurors on the so-called voluntary manslaughter “imperfect self defense or defense of others,” the motion argued that the court also may have erred in granting a prosecution motion to ban the so-called necessity defense, which may have led to an outright acquittal.
Other arguments for a new trial included adverse rulings to the defense involving motions to reconsider bond, throwing out subpoenas of defense witnesses, denial of a change of venue, and various objections during trial, among others….
Roeder’s attorneys built their case – including putting their client on the witness stand – on the hope that Wilbert would allow jurors to consider a conviction on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter because Roeder sincerely believed he was defending unborn children….
A key issue in the appeal will be whether “imminent threat” should be decided on an objective basis as ruled by the judge or on a subjective basis – as Roeder’s attorneys argued in claiming their client believed the threat was imminent….
[Photo via Jezebel]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Anything less than a first degree murder conviction opens a very messy can of worms.
It would become the defense for the murder of 13 people at Fort Hood by a Muslim terrorist wearing the Uniform of an Army Major.
The undies bomber could use the same defense. In their religion all Americans are potential murderers.
Yeah, I can see this both ways. On the one hand, the judge seems to have essentially tricked Roeder into confessing on the stand, which is wrong from just about every angle you look at it. On the other, Roeder committed murder. In a church, no less. He deserves to go to prison for it.
Argh.
I don’t really see how any legal precedent or category of crime really fits the situation.
Are there any other instances but an abortionist’s work where a serial killer is quite open open about his crimes, and commits them in a known place, and by appointment? And someone takes it upon himself to stop him? The whole thing is so bizarre.
How would you draw the line between defending lives in danger and vigilantism?
I do think that the defense should have at least been allowed to mount a better case without ideological interference.
If Roeder sincerely believes what he did was justified, then he should be prepared to spend life in prison, shouldn’t he? I think that by trying to get a lesser prison sentence says he doesn’t. Killing Tiller is no better than Tiller performing abortions.
What a crock, fishydude.
It is not every soldier’s only job to kill enemy combatants (and even still, enemy combatants mean to do harm to those soldiers, so even THAT could/would be considered “self-defense”). This would be no defense.
Religion plays zero part in the murder of Tiller. IT WAS HIS JOB TO TERMINATE/END THE LIVES OF PRE-BORN HUMANS. It was what he did for a living, that and nothing else. Roeder killed him because he felt he had to in order to stop him from ending/terminating those human lives, which would happen because it was on his freaking day planner to do so. No comparison whatsoever.
Lori Pieper wrote…”Are there any other instances but an abortionist’s work where a serial killer is quite open open about his crimes, and commits them in a known place, and by appointment? And someone takes it upon himself to stop him? The whole thing is so bizarre.”
It’s messy and complicated and yes, bizarre. Lori’s right – serial killing by appointment – I never thought of it quite that way! It’s an old ghastly image in a fresh and gruesome new light.
This case is all about the appeal. Roeder should not have shot Dr. Tiller period. However, had he done so at his clinic, this would have an even greater chance of setting precedent for defense of 3rd person. Still has a chance now, since the judge denied any argument in court in support of justification. Appeal should allow new trail with 3rd person defense as central argument. Way too dangerous for ProChoice groups.
If this went up to the Supreme Court on 3rd person defense, the court could reverse Roe v Wade on the hole left for definition of a person. I say could because the court could avoid the person issue and focus on procedures only.
We need a person definition amendment to make it through at the state level somewhere. Any states with such an amendment on course for balloting this year?
Still, I believe Scott Roeder was denied his right to a fair trial solely because his reason for murdering Tiller was that Tiller aborted babies for a living.
No. The Judge made sure Roeder got a fair trail by entertaining that defense for a few days. But once the defense revealed that (1) the murder of Tiller was premeditated, and (2) there was no imminent threat to any post-born person, the judge had to put a stop to it.
Roeder got an extra fair trail to ensure that his appeal would never succeed.
Exactly Jill, thank you for posting this. This is what Randall Terry was saying during the trial. It is an issue of a fair trial not whether or not he is guilty. He needs to be given a fair trial by a jury of his peers and ALL evidence needs to be considered.
Dhalgren’s “post-born” post is a perfect example of the bias in this trial.
Roeder knew what he was doing. He sacrificed his freedom to protect the unborn. He knew he would probably face life in prison for murder. But he chose to do it anyway, feeling his sacrifice was worth what, in his mind, was a noble deed. But he does deserve a fair trial, which he obviously did not get.
Just something to think about:
Prisons are meant to protect society. Would you feel threatened to know Scott Roeder were loose in society? Only if you were an abortionist. I fear more the rapist who now gets a slap on the wrist or the meth addict who lives solely to feed his/her habit or the gang member for whom life has no meaning.
No, Kathy O. A kangaroo court established to prop up Our Agenda is “extra fair”. lol.
“Just something to think about:
Prisons are meant to protect society. Would you feel threatened to know Scott Roeder were loose in society? Only if you were an abortionist.”
Wow. So, if you’re not a child you have nothing to fear from child molesters? If you’re not a police officer, you have nothing to fear from cop killers?
I could go on and on. I’m shocked.
You are spot on. The whole reason for Randall Terry and some of his team to be at the trial of Scott Roeder was to see if he would get a fair trial and you know what? He didn’t. If one listened to his interview with Dave Leach one will know exactly what his state of mind was and all of it should have been acceptable in court. That is not to say that pro lifers support the murder of Tiller although all of us would agree that as Americans we all deserve our day in court. And maybe the most important point is that just like you Jill were able to educate the whole world on the abominable practice of murdering innocent
little babies after late term induced abortions at Christ
Hospital, the whole world could have been educated on
the twisted practices of Tiller as he stuck needles into these
perfectly healthy babies hearts so they would have painful heart attacks or stick knives into the back of their heads and sucesked their brains out, then dressed them up in Christining dress, have a faux minister baptize the dead babies and finally take pictures
for their mothers to take home. Or they often would be thrown into the oven on the back of his killing center to be burned up like the Jews in Nazi Germany. If Phil Kline could have taken
the stand he would have told the world that there were 19 counts of criminal abortion pending because Tiller employed a physican to do nothing more than sign her name on legal papers
because Kansas requires a second opinion before Tiller could do these late term, very expensive ($5,000 each) child killing.
And by the way when Tiller was told by his pastor to stop
doing abortions, he left that church and used his blood money
to build his own church, pay his own minister etal where he
ultimately was murdered. To get this informtion on record
for the world to ear and read would have been amazing.
Thanks to the corruption, all of this is still under raps.
Shine a light on a very dark, dirty place. God have mercy on
our souls.
Simi
Tiller built his own church? Established in 1955, the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita did move into a new building in 1996. Any evidence Dr. Tiller funded that? It looks expensive.
Sylvia said, “Just something to think about: Prisons are meant to protect society. Would you feel threatened to know Scott Roeder were loose in society? Only if you were an abortionist.”
Hal then said, “Wow. So, if you’re not a child you have nothing to fear from child molesters? If you’re not a police officer, you have nothing to fear from cop killers?”
Hal concluded, “I could go on and on. I’m shocked.”
Really, Hal? Let me go on for you. So if you’re not an unborn child, you have nothing to fear from abortionists? Come clean. Isn’t this what you believe? In your opinion, unborn children don’t count.
There’s a difference, however, between Sylvia’s statement and the comparisons made by you and me. An abortionist doesn’t have to be evil; he can stop murdering, and this was Sylvia’s point, I think. You only need to fear Mr. Roeder if you are a murderer. (Witness the treatment of Abby Johnson, for example.) Children, however, don’t have a choice about their stage of development; children can’t escape abortionists and molesters. Police officers can quit being officers, but they should not. We need them and want them to continue as police officers.