{"id":247712,"date":"2010-01-29T12:04:32","date_gmt":"2010-01-29T17:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rhrealitycheck.org\/blog\/2010\/01\/29\/scott-roeder-found-guilty-1st-degree-murder-dr-tiller-shooting"},"modified":"2010-01-29T14:27:59","modified_gmt":"2010-01-29T19:27:59","slug":"updated-scott-roeder-found-guilty-of-1st-degree-murder-in-dr-tiller-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/247712","title":{"rendered":"UPDATED Scott Roeder Found Guilty of 1st Degree Murder in Dr. Tiller Shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nOn January 29th, 2010, a jury found Scott Roeder guilty of 1st degree premeditated murder in the shooting of Kansas Dr. George Tiller<\/a>, as well as two counts of aggravated assault.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\nThe jury, who had listened to 5 days of testimony<\/a>, took less than an hour of deliberation once closing remarks were made.\n<\/p>\n

\nYesterday, the jury was informed that they would not be ruling on a charge of voluntary manslaughter, a fear many pro-choice advocates<\/a> expressed, as the sentencing could be as little as 5 years. Because of Roeder’s premeditated action and the fact that there was no immediate threat against him, Judge Warren Wilbert instead ruled that Roeder must be found either guilty or innocent on the charge of first degree murder in the death of Dr. George Tiller. Additionally, he was charged with two counts of aggravated assault for pulling a gun on two others during his crime.\n<\/p>\n

\nAlthough the jury returned quickly with a verdict, there was little surprise in the fast turn around. In Roeder’s own testimony yesterday<\/a> he repeated the fact that he did commit the murder of Dr. Tiller, as well as recite the steps that he took prior to the act, with plans that went all of the way back to 1993. He also stated that he did not regret his actions.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe prosecuting team has announced its intention to go for a "hard 50" during the sentencing process.\u00a0 "Hard 50," a sentencing technique used frequently in Kansas murder trials, required that the convicted murderer be required to serve a minimum of 50 years in prison before even a possibility of parole.\n<\/p>\n

\nSentencing will be scheduled for March 9th, 2010 at 8:45 a.m.\n<\/p>\n

\nWe will continue to update this post with statements as they come in.\n<\/p>\n

\nUPDATES:\n<\/p>\n

\nStatement from Dr. Tiller’s family<\/a>:\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t"The family of Dr. George Tiller would like to thank the jury,
\n\tDistrict Attorney Nola Foulston and her office and law enforcement for
\n\ttheir service in this difficult matter. Once again, a Sedgwick County
\n\tjury has reached a just verdict. We also want to thank George’s
\n\tcountless friends and supporters in Wichita and around the country who
\n\thave offered their comfort.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\t"At this time we hope that
\n\tGeorge can be remembered for his legacy of service to women, the help
\n\the provided for those who needed it and the love and happiness he
\n\tprovided us as a husband, father and grandfather."\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\nNARAL Pro-Choice America<\/a>:\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t \n\t<\/p>\n

\n\t"The jury examined the facts of this case and rightfully convicted
\n\tScott Roeder for the brutal murder of Dr. George Tiller inside his
\n\tchurch in Kansas. Our thoughts are with Dr. Tiller’s family and
\n\tfriends. Even though this conviction brings a murderer to justice, it
\n\twon’t replace the husband, father, and grandfather they lost last May.
\n\tDr. Tiller was a tireless advocate for reproductive health who called
\n\ton us to ‘trust women’ to make the personal, private decisions that are
\n\tbest for them and their families. We will continue to honor his legacy
\n\tof compassion and resolve.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\t"We also call on opponents of a woman’s right to choose to end the
\n\tpractice of inflammatory rhetoric and tactics that inspire this kind of
\n\tviolent action from the most extreme factions of the anti-choice
\n\tmovement. No other abortion provider’s family should have to endure the
\n\ttragedy of seeing their loved one killed for providing an essential and
\n\tlegal health service to women."\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nThe Center for Reproductive Rights<\/a>:\n<\/p>\n

\n\tToday,
\n\tjustice was served for Dr. Tiller, his family and abortion providers
\n\twho live in fear of physical attacks, harassment and intimidation every
\n\tday. \u00a0The jury swiftly and unanimously convicted Mr. Roeder, \u00a0rejecting
\n\this defense for cold-blooded murder. \u00a0Dr. Tiller\u2019s shooting was a
\n\tcalculated crime by Mr. Roeder\u2019s own admission, and that is the
\n\tdefinition of premeditated murder. <\/p>\n

\tAs our investigative research<\/a> last summer found, anti-choice forces have targeted abortion providers
\n\tfor decades \u2013 with appalling physical attacks, threats and intimidation
\n\t\u2013 far too often with impunity. Yet abortion is a legal medical service,
\n\ta fundamental part of healthcare for women and a core constitutional
\n\tright. \u00a0It was critical that this trial show that the lives of doctors
\n\twho perform necessary, legal services will be protected by the full
\n\tforce of the law.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On January 29th, 2010, a jury found Scott Roeder guilty of 1st degree premeditated murder in the shooting of Kansas Dr. George Tiller, as well as two counts of aggravated assault.\u00a0 The jury, who had listened to 5 days of testimony, took less than an hour of deliberation once closing remarks were made. Yesterday, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247712","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\/4263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247712\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}