{"id":230358,"date":"2010-01-26T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-26T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rhrealitycheck.org\/blog\/2010\/01\/26\/the-trial-scott-roeder-days-one-and-two"},"modified":"2010-01-26T17:31:43","modified_gmt":"2010-01-26T22:31:43","slug":"the-trial-of-scott-roeder-days-one-and-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/230358","title":{"rendered":"The Trial of Scott Roeder: Days One and Two"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n\tCarolyn Marie Fugit is covering the trial of Scott Roeder on assignment for RH Reality Check<\/em>.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nDAY TWO (DAY ONE FOLLOWS BELOW)\n<\/p>\n

\nWalking into the Sedgwick County Courthouse Monday
\nmorning, I saw a van covered in anti-abortion messages. Missionaries to the
\nPre-Born Iowa, formed by Army of God member Dan Holman, was parked in front,
\ndisplaying grotesque images, pretty images, and messages saying abortion causes
\nbreast cancer and against vaccination. Inside, David Leach waited for day two
\nof the trial to start. He and two companions talked to some members of the
\nmedia. I chatted with representatives from the Feminist Majority Foundation and
\nthe National Abortion Federation. Outside the courtroom, the conversation was
\nall about abortion. Inside, it was suppose to be about a murder.\n<\/p>\n

\nFirst in the morning are two ushers Scott Roeder
\nthreatened after he shot Dr. George Tiller. Gary Hoepner stood at the
\nrefreshments table with Dr. Tiller, chatting about donuts. He saw Roeder come
\nout of the sanctuary but thought nothing of it as he had seen Roeder the week
\nbefore. He looked down then saw someone else out of the corner of his eye and
\nlooked up to see Roeder shoot.\u00a0
\n<\/span>Hoepner followed, trying to keep him from escaping. As they ran across
\nsome grass, Roeder told Hoepner to stop following him, that he had a gun.
\nPublic Defender Mark Rudy tried to say Hoepner could not be certain Roeder was
\nshouting at him, but Hoepner said Roeder turned his head and shouted it back at
\nhim. Rudy tried again, as he had on Friday, to make a witness say protestors
\noften disrupted services because Dr. Tiller provided abortions. Hoepner did not
\nbite. In an attempt to play towards the lesser charge of voluntary
\nmanslaughter, Rudy asked if Hoepner thought "what [Roeder] did was
\nreasonable?" Hoepner stated simply, "No." Later, he recalls
\nletting his guard down, choking up because he felt bad he couldn’t stop Roeder.\n<\/p>\n

\nKeith Martin was not near Roeder when he shot Dr. Tiller,
\nbut after he heard a loud pop, he turned around to see Dr. Tiller on the ground
\nand Roeder running across a courtyard. He tried a shortcut through Fellowship
\nHall, not quite catching up with Roeder. Martin stared him down briefly as he
\ngot into his car before Roeder stated he had a gun. As he drove off, Martin
\nthrew his cup of coffee into the open driver’s side window, not knowing
\nentirely why. District Attorney Nola Foulston asks Martin about various
\ndisruptions at the church over the years. He remembered five such times inside
\nthe church and many protests outside. Rudy wanted to know if these protests
\nwere against Dr. Tiller or against the church for having Dr. Tiller. Martin
\nsaid they were not just about Dr. Tiller: he had received mail stating he
\nshould not be a Sunday school teacher because of the church he attended. He
\ndescribed the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s social statement on
\nabortion, one that individuals have no obligation to abide by. It was adopted
\nin 1991 and has not been changed since. After a series of objections, the
\ndefense decides they may recall Martin at a later date, presumably to talk more
\nabout Dr. Tiller, Reformation Lutheran Church, and anti-abortion protestors.\n<\/p>\n

\nOn Sunday, May 31, 2009, Pastor Kristin Neitzel lead the
\nservice. The night before, at a special Pentecostal service, she noticed Roeder
\narrive late and sit away from the rest of the congregation. He left within 10
\nminutes of the service starting. She followed him out, concerned for security
\nreasons: ushers had told her late summer, early fall 2009, that they were
\nconcerned about him. She would sit where he had been sitting and notice an
\nenvelope on the pew. A question was written on the outside, asking if the
\nchurch was a 501(c)3 under the IRS tax code \u2013 a tax-exempt charitable
\norganization. On the witness stand, she identified a series of bulletins from
\nthe church: August 2009; May 24th, 2009; May 30th, 2009. Sunday morning as she
\nlead service, she heard a sound she thought was the dropping of a hymnal. After
\nan usher pulled Senior Pastor Lowell Michelson out of the sanctuary, she was
\nasked if she wanted to continue with the service. She felt she should. After
\nthe sermon, in accordance with the police, she informed the congregation of the
\nshooting, and lead them in prayer before they left the church for the day.\n<\/p>\n

\nDay two ended with Judge Warren Wilbert reminding the
\njury to not discuss the case or pay attention to any media coverage, paying
\nspecial heed to an issue of GQ published over the weekend that discussed the
\ncase in detail. Outside, Leach and three others had their picture taken in
\nfront of their van by convicted domestic terrorist Michael Bray. As the sun set
\nin Wichita, Kansas, everyone left, readying for Tuesday.\n<\/p>\n

\n*********************\n<\/p>\n

\nDAY ONE:\n<\/p>\n

\nThe first day of Scott Roeder’s murder trial introduced
\nus to courtroom decorum and evidence that had not yet been discussed in the
\nmedia, a preview of what to expect. Friends and supporters of Scott Roeder sat
\nonly a few feet from the family of Dr. George Tiller.\n<\/p>\n

\nBefore the trial began, Judge Warren Wilbert reminded
\neveryone in the gallery to behave. We could not make audible noises \u2013 no grunts
\nor moans or cheers \u2013 and non-verbal cues \u2013 facial expressions or body movements
\n\u2013 that could influence the jury. If anyone disobeyed, they would be made to
\nleave. He could even hold them in contempt of court. Not everyone was pleased
\nby this. They had been waving to Roeder as he entered the room, and he had been
\nsmiling back at them. Some of Roeder’s supporters would struggle with this
\norder for proper decorum throughout the day.\n<\/p>\n

\nJudge Wilbert heard two motions, already brought before
\nthe court. The prosecution requested, once again, that a defense for voluntary
\nmanslaughter not be allowed. District Attorney Nola Foulston described it as
\n"a wolf in sheep’s clothing," a backdoor for the necessity defense.
\nJudge Wilbert reminds the court and the public that the defense does not need
\nto provide any evidence and is presumed innocent. He cannot rule out evidence
\nbefore he hears it. He denied their motion "at this time," allowing
\nthem to bring objections on specific evidence later in the trial. The defense
\nonce again asks for a change of venue after recognizing they accepted the jury
\nthat has yet to be sworn in. The judge once again denies their request. The
\ntrial will be held in Wichita.\n<\/p>\n

\nAfter the jury is sworn in, Foulston gives her opening
\nstatement. She reminds the jury that she is not presenting evidence, only what
\nshe believes the evidence will show. On the morning of May 31, 2009, Scott
\nRoeder put a gun to George Tiller’s head and shot him. 911 received the first
\ncall shortly after 10:02 am. A couple minutes later, another call gave dispatch
\na description of the car and a plate number. And at 10:13 am, Dr. Tiller was
\npronounced dead.\n<\/p>\n

\nRoeder had stayed overnight at a hotel in Wichita, more
\nthan three hours from where he lived. He stayed at a different one the week
\nbefore. When he was pulled over, officers found shoes in his car that had Dr.
\nTiller’s blood splattered on them. At his home in Missouri, the FBI found a box
\nfor a gun, a calendar with May 30 and 31 highlighted, a church bulletin from
\nReformation Lutheran Church from August of 2008, and an ammunition receipt. The
\nday before, he went to his brother’s in Topeka, about an hour west of Kansas
\nCity, and had some shooting practice. The FBI found several shell casings, one
\nof which was the same brand as the one found near Dr. Tiller’s body in Wichita.
\nThe gun has still not been found.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe defense did not offer an opening statement at this
\ntime, and the first witness was called. Diane Gage is Director of Emergency
\nCommunications. We hear the first 911 call. The woman on the line, Kathy
\nWegner, was distraught, telling 911 that Dr. Tiller had been shot in church and
\nthe shooter had left. Gage walked through the times of the calls to 911 and to
\nemergency services. The first officer arrived at 10:07 Sunday morning and the
\nlast one left after 7 Monday morning.\n<\/p>\n

\nWegner takes the stand and describes that morning. She is
\nquite matter-of-fact until she talks about the shooting and seeing Dr. Tiller
\non the ground. She made the first call to 911. From the business office, she
\ncould see others gathering around Dr. Tiller. She heard his wife, Jeanne,
\nscream. We are shown a picture taken that morning, Dr. Tiller laying many feet
\naway. A Roeder supporter from Texas begins to sway, beaming with joy at the
\nimage of Dr. Tiller’s body. Security warned her to sit back and not smile or
\nshe would have to leave. She begrudgingly complied. Meanwhile, Mrs. Tiller and
\ntheir family look away.\n<\/p>\n

\nTwo Wichita police officers describe the call and their
\narrival at the church, showing more gruesome pictures. The last witness for the
\nday is Dr. Paul Ryding, a veterinarian specializing in equine medicine. He
\ntried to resuscitate Dr. Tiller. He remembered seeing Roeder towards the end of
\n2008. He remembered Roeder did not participate in the worship service, and when
\nhe tried to engage Roeder later, Roeder was defensive, his conversation
\nfragmented. Public Defender Mark Rudy tried to make Ryding say he was on the
\nlookout for strangers because of Dr. Tiller’s field of medicine, a line of
\nquestioning he used during the preliminary hearing. Ryding worked hard not to
\ngo there. Rudy misunderstood part of Ryding’s testimony and started to say the
\nreason Ryding was suspicious of Roeder was because of abortion. Judge Wilbert
\nasked the jury to leave while the record was read back. Judge Wilbert offered
\nRudy the benefit of the doubt that he simply mis-heard the testimony. He said
\nthe line of questioning would not be allowed unless the witness opened the
\ndoor. "But the door is not open," he stated. After the jury came
\nback, Rudy once again tried to get Ryding to say Dr. Tiller was killed because
\nof his practice. Judge Wilbert did not allow it. As he had said before, this
\ntrial will not be about abortion.\n<\/p>\n

\nWith less than an hour left in the day, Judge Wilbert
\ncalled the day to an end reminding the jury to keep an open mind through the
\nweekend. We leave the courtroom one day down, several more to go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carolyn Marie Fugit is covering the trial of Scott Roeder on assignment for RH Reality Check. DAY TWO (DAY ONE FOLLOWS BELOW) Walking into the Sedgwick County Courthouse Monday morning, I saw a van covered in anti-abortion messages. Missionaries to the Pre-Born Iowa, formed by Army of God member Dan Holman, was parked in front, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230358\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}