Raves~Rants
Rave #3 Cheers for U.S. Justice
& for Judge Warren Wilbert_2010FEB01©Susan Dykhuis

Excerpt from:
NY Times
Abortion Foe (Scott Roeder) found Guilty in Doctor’s Killing
By MONICA DAVEY
Published: January 29, 2010

Mr. Roeder’s defense team had hoped the judge in the case, Warren Wilbert, would instruct jurors that they could take into account Mr. Roeder’s motive and consider a lesser conviction of voluntary manslaughter if they believed he held, as Kansas law states, “an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force.”

But the judge ruled that the circumstances did not meet the requirements for such a conviction, and jurors on Friday were essentially given two choices: convict Mr. Roeder of pre-meditated murder or send him home.

Mr. Roeder will be sentenced in March; the conviction carries a life sentence, but prosecutors say they hope to ensure that he is not eligible for parole for 50 years. He was also convicted of aggravated assault for aiming his gun at other church members as he fled. Mr. Roeder’s defense team plans to appeal.

At his trial, Scott Roeder admitted to jurors that he had planned for many years to kill Dr. Tiller.

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My view:

According to the NY Times report, it took jurors 37 minutes on Friday to convict Scott Roeder, an abortion opponent, of first-degree murder in the death of George R. Tiller, one of the few doctors in the country to perform late-term abortions.

If I were a juror and heard with my own ears Roeder state he planned for many years to kill Dr. Tiller, it would have taken me all of a nanosecond to convict.

People can debate the pros and cons of abortion; we are entitled to our own opinion on the subject. However, people who oppose abortion do not have the right to gun down doctors who perform abortions in the United States. In that country, abortion is a legal right.

If Hell exists, Hell awaits Scott Roeder.

Thou shalt not kill
In the United States this commandment has been interpreted to cover those already born.

No tears from me for Scott Roeder; my tears and compassion are for the family of the murdered Dr. George Tiller, for his friends, colleagues, and patients -- and for Dr. Tiller whose life was taken by one who decided to disregard the law of the land. This murderer planned and waited for the opportune time to murder a doctor who was not breaking the law.

Rave #3 Cheers for U.S. Justice
& for Judge Warren Wilbert_2010FEB01©Susan Dykhuis