Jenn Giroux
How the 'not guilty' verdict was secured for abortionist George Tiller
By Jenn Giroux
The following is a brief explanation of why late term abortionist George Tiller was found "Not Guilty" last Friday of the 19 Misdemeanor charges that were brought against him in June, 2007. This will include only necessary and brief background for you to understand why he was not convicted.
When Phill Kline was Kansas Attorney General (2002-2006), the Kansas Supreme Court held up his investigation for 2 years virtually, running out the statute of limitations on many of the cases. The abortion industry understood clearly that Kline was onto the crimes inside of George Tiller's clinic and immediately set out to defeat him in order to be sure that a conviction would never occur. They did, in fact, defeat Kline in November of 2006, but before leaving office Kline charged George Tiller with 30 charges of late-term abortions. These charges were filed only after a judge reviewed all evidence and probable cause was found that crimes had been committed. These charges included abortions on girls as young as ten years old. Because of the powerful influence of the abortion industry and the reach they had into the judicial system, these charges were dropped within twenty-four hours by a traffic judge who had never reviewed the evidence.
Having spent millions of dollars through various channels (some of these monies displayed in this link), Kline was defeated. Although Tiller now had elected his own Attorney General, public pressure was mounting. Then Attorney General Morrison announced he would do his own "review" of Kline's evidence. When he appeared to be preparing to let Tiller off all together, a surprise visit by Kline's expert Dr. Paul McHugh (World renowned psychiatrist, well know authority and author in his field, and former 25 year department Head at Johns Hopkins University Hospital) backed him in a corner. Dr. McHugh revealed that every abortion record of Tiller's that he reviewed violated Kansas abortion law. Parts of this interview and the story were carried on The O'Reilly Factor, and Dr. McHugh's shocking revelations were carried across the media in Kansas. The full interview of Dr. McHugh was hand delivered to the Attorney General's office. AG Morrison was boxed in. Soon after, AG Morrison announced that he was charging Tiller with 19 misdemeanors, however without any credible explanation he also announced he would be dropping all of Kline's more serious charges. There was an ominous feeling at the time that the fix was in.
In refusing to file the more serious charges, Morrison engaged in an absurd interpretation of Kansas law. He allowed Tiller to simply use the language of the law instead of providing an actual diagnosis. This allowed Tiller to perform any and all abortions (calling them medically necessary) without any oversight or scrutiny as to whether he was complying with Kansas Law.
Little did we know he was also providing Tiller's defense team with their closing argument to secure an acquittal when it would go to trial 20 months later.
Kansas law states that a doctor can only perform an abortion on a viable child if two doctors find that "the mother will suffer substantial and irreversible damage to a major bodily function if the abortion is not performed."
This is strict law. But Morrison's interpretation suddenly proclaimed it meaningless. If Tiller said it: then it is justified. This would explain why women crossed the borders of Kansas every week with confidence of not being turned away because of some silly law. Tiller was free to abort unborn children right up to the moment of delivery with the full blessing of Governor Sebelius and without any oversight by the Attorney General.
Kline's evidence had shown that Tiller was performing late-term abortions so that the mother could go to a rock concert, compete in rodeo or attend the prom. This was is clear violation to Kansas Law.
Fast forward now to the trial of George Tiller. The Trial began on Monday March 23, 2009. Keep in mind the following when you realize that Tiller was found "Not Guilty":
1. Morrison interpreted Kansas law in a way which made it impossible to prosecute for criminal late term abortion. Essentially he said that if Tiller said it was medically required then it was. (Abortion money had elected him and he was not going to enforce the late term abortion law).
2. Morrison filed these charges and called them "highly technical." It is speculated that he probably anticipated pleading it out or putting together a weak case.
3. In December, 2007, Morrison resigns and Governor Sebelius appoints Stephen Six as the new AG.
4. Six adopts Morrison's absurd interpretation of Kansas late-term abortion laws. Six also assumes the Morrison charges against Tiller.
5. Six announces he will not conduct any further investigation of Tiller as he considered this "an invasion of privacy." Accordingly, the entire State prosecution of Tiller is based solely on evidence Kline obtained while in office. With hindsight we now see that they chose not to use all of the strong evidence that Kline provided to them.
6. Tiller goes to trial and the State put on one witness. That's it. The only morsel of hope that the jury could see the real picture was provided by Tiller's own slip up in his testimony in his own defense. Tiller's slip up was in that he accidently says, "When she worked for me." The State relies on this as the theme of their closing arguments. Everyone prayed that the jury was paying attention. In order to prevail, the state needed to show that Neuhaus was an employee of Tiller. They failed miserably in that they only put on Neuhaus as their sole witness. Of course, she denied the allegation.
7. Tiller's defense was that Larry Buening told him to use Dr. Neuhaus. (At that time Buening worked for the medical board in Kansas which was in charge of Physician conduct and compliance. This state agency is known as The Kansas Board of Healing Arts)
Are you starting to see how this verdict was accomplished? You have Morrison filing the only charges in which Tiller could claim the state agreed and condoned his conduct. This works out to be convenient when you also have the Prosecution refusing to introduce the context of the Tiller-Neuhaus relationship by showing the purported "diagnosis" of these conditions and the rubber stamp nature of Neuhaus' conduct. Instead the Attorney General stipulates that every single abortion was "medically necessary." This stipulation is unbelievable. Especially when we contemplate that it is the soul and foundation of Tiller's attorney's closing argument.
This brings us to the closing argument of Tiller's Attorney, Dan Monat. Here were his points:
1. Every abortion is a heroic effort by Tiller to provide a medically necessary procedure to save the mother from severe and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function. Tiller, himself, has sacrificed and suffered much to provide such excellent care. He has been a victim of anti-choice activism and has faced threats to his own life, survived bombings and shootings, and has been the victim of witch hunts his entire career.
2. In this "one witness prosecution" the state simply continued this was a persecution designed by "anti-choice politicians."
3. If the state was serious and Dr. Tiller was operating anything but a legitimate medical facility to provide admittedly medically necessary procedures, the state would have charged Dr. Tiller with more serious crimes. (Recall: It was Former AG Morrison — elected with millions of dollars in abortion money — that dropped all serious charges of illegal late term abortions brought forth by Phill Kline when he was Attorney General. Now is it his successor who has stipulated that all abortions in question are "medically necessary." It seems we have now come full circle).
4. Dr. Tiller only requested the services of Dr. Neuhaus for their patients because he relied on the advice of Dr. Bruening, of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, who told Dr. Tiller to use Dr. Neuhaus as the second doctor. Beuning denies this, but the State did not call him as a witness because under oath — he would have admitted that is exactly what he did.
5. The one witness the state called (Dr. Neuhaus herself — who was declared a hostile witness once she took the stand) denied the relationship the State claimed she had with Tiller.
If that is not throwing a prosecution — what is?
Here's what really happened and should have been presented regarding the activities at Tiller's clinic.
1. Tiller performed abortions on viable children for any reason whatsoever, including statements by the mother that she wanted to attend rock concerts, the prom or compete in the rodeo season.
2. Neuhaus signed a form letter stating she found the mother would "suffer severe impairment of a major bodily function." She did not give a diagnosis. (The state did not present any evidence at Tiller's trial regarding the diagnosis, any supporting documentation or whether Neuhaus even reached the same diagnosis as Tiller) The State also presented no evidence about whether Neuhaus ever saw any of the patients that she signed off on.
3. All patient charts were provided by Tiller to Neuhaus and all Neuhaus's income was provided by Tiller (supposedly in cash) except for the limited income she had received as a laser hair technician.
This case was improperly handled from the start. The State did not use the redacted medical abortion records or any other witnesses and they refused to challenge the basis for the abortion. In stipulating that all the abortions in question were medically necessary, they intentionally threw the case.
The bottom line:
Abortionist George Tiller, Governor Kathleen Sebelius, and the Abortion industry secured the "NOT GUILTY" outcome of this prosecution on Election Night 2006 when they defeated Phill Kline's bid for re-election to the Kansas Attorney General seat. This put an end to enforcement efforts and any hopes of a legitimate prosecution effort. Tiller's money was well invested and once again the abortion industry's money has taken care of their own. But they are not done yet. The final score they have to settle is with the guy who began all of Tiller's trouble. Governor Sebelius's majority appointed Kansas Supreme Court have already set the wheels in motion to go after Former Attorney General Phill Kline, now a law professor at Liberty Law School in Virginia, and take his law license to make an example of him for daring to expose Tiller and his crimes against women and the unborn.
Friday's verdict was all too predictable. And it was delivered just in time to clear the way for the confirmation of Governor Sebelius. The timing is unbelievable but not surprising. After the effective job she has done protecting abortion under her watch in our nation's late term capital, I guess you could say Attorney General Six and Tiller were simply returning the favor.
That doesn't make the results of the trial any less devastating. Ironically, as if my children instinctively knew what was happening with all the phone calls that were coming in at the time of the verdict, they quietly went into our family room and among themselves chose a movie. Perhaps this week some of our Republican Senators can find the backbone to call upon Governor Sebelius during her confirmation hearing to provide protection to the least among us by reminding her of the same words that put a lump in my throat when they rang out from my family room the same hour that our nation's notorious late term abortionist was acquitted in a predetermined verdict which turned him loose from the courtroom to continue his illegal slaughter of the innocence: "A person's a person no matter how small"**
**(From the movie "Horton Hears a Who").
© Jenn Giroux
March 31, 2009
The following is a brief explanation of why late term abortionist George Tiller was found "Not Guilty" last Friday of the 19 Misdemeanor charges that were brought against him in June, 2007. This will include only necessary and brief background for you to understand why he was not convicted.
When Phill Kline was Kansas Attorney General (2002-2006), the Kansas Supreme Court held up his investigation for 2 years virtually, running out the statute of limitations on many of the cases. The abortion industry understood clearly that Kline was onto the crimes inside of George Tiller's clinic and immediately set out to defeat him in order to be sure that a conviction would never occur. They did, in fact, defeat Kline in November of 2006, but before leaving office Kline charged George Tiller with 30 charges of late-term abortions. These charges were filed only after a judge reviewed all evidence and probable cause was found that crimes had been committed. These charges included abortions on girls as young as ten years old. Because of the powerful influence of the abortion industry and the reach they had into the judicial system, these charges were dropped within twenty-four hours by a traffic judge who had never reviewed the evidence.
Having spent millions of dollars through various channels (some of these monies displayed in this link), Kline was defeated. Although Tiller now had elected his own Attorney General, public pressure was mounting. Then Attorney General Morrison announced he would do his own "review" of Kline's evidence. When he appeared to be preparing to let Tiller off all together, a surprise visit by Kline's expert Dr. Paul McHugh (World renowned psychiatrist, well know authority and author in his field, and former 25 year department Head at Johns Hopkins University Hospital) backed him in a corner. Dr. McHugh revealed that every abortion record of Tiller's that he reviewed violated Kansas abortion law. Parts of this interview and the story were carried on The O'Reilly Factor, and Dr. McHugh's shocking revelations were carried across the media in Kansas. The full interview of Dr. McHugh was hand delivered to the Attorney General's office. AG Morrison was boxed in. Soon after, AG Morrison announced that he was charging Tiller with 19 misdemeanors, however without any credible explanation he also announced he would be dropping all of Kline's more serious charges. There was an ominous feeling at the time that the fix was in.
In refusing to file the more serious charges, Morrison engaged in an absurd interpretation of Kansas law. He allowed Tiller to simply use the language of the law instead of providing an actual diagnosis. This allowed Tiller to perform any and all abortions (calling them medically necessary) without any oversight or scrutiny as to whether he was complying with Kansas Law.
Little did we know he was also providing Tiller's defense team with their closing argument to secure an acquittal when it would go to trial 20 months later.
Kansas law states that a doctor can only perform an abortion on a viable child if two doctors find that "the mother will suffer substantial and irreversible damage to a major bodily function if the abortion is not performed."
This is strict law. But Morrison's interpretation suddenly proclaimed it meaningless. If Tiller said it: then it is justified. This would explain why women crossed the borders of Kansas every week with confidence of not being turned away because of some silly law. Tiller was free to abort unborn children right up to the moment of delivery with the full blessing of Governor Sebelius and without any oversight by the Attorney General.
Kline's evidence had shown that Tiller was performing late-term abortions so that the mother could go to a rock concert, compete in rodeo or attend the prom. This was is clear violation to Kansas Law.
Fast forward now to the trial of George Tiller. The Trial began on Monday March 23, 2009. Keep in mind the following when you realize that Tiller was found "Not Guilty":
- The Attorney General's office who tried this case against Tiller was led by a man who was handpicked and appointed by Governor Kathleen Sebelius because her first choice (Morrison) went down in a sex scandal 9 months after defeating Kline. His name is Attorney Stephen General Six.
- Tiller was charged with having an improper "financial relationship" with Dr. Neuhaus, a female physician whom he used to give the second opinion. Kansas law requires that Doctor to be completely "independent."
1. Morrison interpreted Kansas law in a way which made it impossible to prosecute for criminal late term abortion. Essentially he said that if Tiller said it was medically required then it was. (Abortion money had elected him and he was not going to enforce the late term abortion law).
2. Morrison filed these charges and called them "highly technical." It is speculated that he probably anticipated pleading it out or putting together a weak case.
3. In December, 2007, Morrison resigns and Governor Sebelius appoints Stephen Six as the new AG.
4. Six adopts Morrison's absurd interpretation of Kansas late-term abortion laws. Six also assumes the Morrison charges against Tiller.
5. Six announces he will not conduct any further investigation of Tiller as he considered this "an invasion of privacy." Accordingly, the entire State prosecution of Tiller is based solely on evidence Kline obtained while in office. With hindsight we now see that they chose not to use all of the strong evidence that Kline provided to them.
6. Tiller goes to trial and the State put on one witness. That's it. The only morsel of hope that the jury could see the real picture was provided by Tiller's own slip up in his testimony in his own defense. Tiller's slip up was in that he accidently says, "When she worked for me." The State relies on this as the theme of their closing arguments. Everyone prayed that the jury was paying attention. In order to prevail, the state needed to show that Neuhaus was an employee of Tiller. They failed miserably in that they only put on Neuhaus as their sole witness. Of course, she denied the allegation.
7. Tiller's defense was that Larry Buening told him to use Dr. Neuhaus. (At that time Buening worked for the medical board in Kansas which was in charge of Physician conduct and compliance. This state agency is known as The Kansas Board of Healing Arts)
Are you starting to see how this verdict was accomplished? You have Morrison filing the only charges in which Tiller could claim the state agreed and condoned his conduct. This works out to be convenient when you also have the Prosecution refusing to introduce the context of the Tiller-Neuhaus relationship by showing the purported "diagnosis" of these conditions and the rubber stamp nature of Neuhaus' conduct. Instead the Attorney General stipulates that every single abortion was "medically necessary." This stipulation is unbelievable. Especially when we contemplate that it is the soul and foundation of Tiller's attorney's closing argument.
This brings us to the closing argument of Tiller's Attorney, Dan Monat. Here were his points:
1. Every abortion is a heroic effort by Tiller to provide a medically necessary procedure to save the mother from severe and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function. Tiller, himself, has sacrificed and suffered much to provide such excellent care. He has been a victim of anti-choice activism and has faced threats to his own life, survived bombings and shootings, and has been the victim of witch hunts his entire career.
2. In this "one witness prosecution" the state simply continued this was a persecution designed by "anti-choice politicians."
3. If the state was serious and Dr. Tiller was operating anything but a legitimate medical facility to provide admittedly medically necessary procedures, the state would have charged Dr. Tiller with more serious crimes. (Recall: It was Former AG Morrison — elected with millions of dollars in abortion money — that dropped all serious charges of illegal late term abortions brought forth by Phill Kline when he was Attorney General. Now is it his successor who has stipulated that all abortions in question are "medically necessary." It seems we have now come full circle).
4. Dr. Tiller only requested the services of Dr. Neuhaus for their patients because he relied on the advice of Dr. Bruening, of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, who told Dr. Tiller to use Dr. Neuhaus as the second doctor. Beuning denies this, but the State did not call him as a witness because under oath — he would have admitted that is exactly what he did.
5. The one witness the state called (Dr. Neuhaus herself — who was declared a hostile witness once she took the stand) denied the relationship the State claimed she had with Tiller.
If that is not throwing a prosecution — what is?
Here's what really happened and should have been presented regarding the activities at Tiller's clinic.
1. Tiller performed abortions on viable children for any reason whatsoever, including statements by the mother that she wanted to attend rock concerts, the prom or compete in the rodeo season.
2. Neuhaus signed a form letter stating she found the mother would "suffer severe impairment of a major bodily function." She did not give a diagnosis. (The state did not present any evidence at Tiller's trial regarding the diagnosis, any supporting documentation or whether Neuhaus even reached the same diagnosis as Tiller) The State also presented no evidence about whether Neuhaus ever saw any of the patients that she signed off on.
3. All patient charts were provided by Tiller to Neuhaus and all Neuhaus's income was provided by Tiller (supposedly in cash) except for the limited income she had received as a laser hair technician.
This case was improperly handled from the start. The State did not use the redacted medical abortion records or any other witnesses and they refused to challenge the basis for the abortion. In stipulating that all the abortions in question were medically necessary, they intentionally threw the case.
The bottom line:
Abortionist George Tiller, Governor Kathleen Sebelius, and the Abortion industry secured the "NOT GUILTY" outcome of this prosecution on Election Night 2006 when they defeated Phill Kline's bid for re-election to the Kansas Attorney General seat. This put an end to enforcement efforts and any hopes of a legitimate prosecution effort. Tiller's money was well invested and once again the abortion industry's money has taken care of their own. But they are not done yet. The final score they have to settle is with the guy who began all of Tiller's trouble. Governor Sebelius's majority appointed Kansas Supreme Court have already set the wheels in motion to go after Former Attorney General Phill Kline, now a law professor at Liberty Law School in Virginia, and take his law license to make an example of him for daring to expose Tiller and his crimes against women and the unborn.
Friday's verdict was all too predictable. And it was delivered just in time to clear the way for the confirmation of Governor Sebelius. The timing is unbelievable but not surprising. After the effective job she has done protecting abortion under her watch in our nation's late term capital, I guess you could say Attorney General Six and Tiller were simply returning the favor.
That doesn't make the results of the trial any less devastating. Ironically, as if my children instinctively knew what was happening with all the phone calls that were coming in at the time of the verdict, they quietly went into our family room and among themselves chose a movie. Perhaps this week some of our Republican Senators can find the backbone to call upon Governor Sebelius during her confirmation hearing to provide protection to the least among us by reminding her of the same words that put a lump in my throat when they rang out from my family room the same hour that our nation's notorious late term abortionist was acquitted in a predetermined verdict which turned him loose from the courtroom to continue his illegal slaughter of the innocence: "A person's a person no matter how small"**
**(From the movie "Horton Hears a Who").
© Jenn Giroux
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(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
