Roeder trial delayed as judge’s decision debated By JUDY L. THOMAS The Kansas City Star

Roeder trial delayed as judge’s decision debated

By JUDY L. THOMAS

The Kansas City Star

Prosecutors have challenged a judge’s decision to allow the man charged with killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller to present a case for a voluntary-manslaughter conviction.

As a result, the trial of Scott Roeder, which was to have begun Monday, has been delayed until Wednesday. Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert set a hearing on the prosecution’s motion for 1:30 p.m. today.

In its motion Monday, the prosecution argued that, “Taken to its logical extreme, this line of thinking would allow anyone to commit premeditated murder, but only be guilty of manslaughter, simply because the victim holds a different set of moral and political beliefs than the attacker.”

Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, is charged with first-degree murder in the May 31 shooting death of Tiller inside Tiller’s church. Roeder also faces two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two ushers.

In a surprise move Friday, Wilbert said he would allow the defense to present testimony that Roeder sincerely believed that killing Tiller was necessary to save lives. That meant jurors could have the option of finding Roeder guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which carries a much lighter sentence than first-degree murder.

Kansas law defines voluntary manslaughter as intentional killing committed “upon an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force.”

The judge’s action also opened the door for the defense to offer testimony about abortion. Prosecutors had intended for the trial to be a straightforward murder case and did not want it to evolve into an abortion debate.

In Monday’s filing, the prosecution said that allowing Roeder to argue that he killed Tiller in order to save unborn babies could lead to chaos.

“The State encourages this Court to not be the first to enable a defendant to justify premeditated murder because of an emotionally charged political belief,” wrote Kim Parker, chief deputy district attorney.

Prosecutors also argued that a voluntary manslaughter case requires evidence of an imminent attack by the victim at the time of the killing. Tiller was killed in the foyer of his church on a Sunday morning.

Prosecutors said Monday that allowing Roeder to present such an argument “would resuscitate a necessity defense which this court has previously ruled inappropriate.” Prosecutors also urged the judge to “exclude any irrelevant evidence of abortion, the defendant’s views on abortion, and the character of Dr. Tiller” at the trial.

At a Dec. 22 hearing, Wilbert banned Roeder from using a necessity defense — aiming for an acquittal by arguing that his actions were justified in order to stop a greater harm — saying it wasn’t recognized under Kansas law. But Wilbert said he would leave the door open for arguments that Roeder was acting on an unreasonable but honest belief that deadly force was necessary.

Roeder’s attorneys on Monday called the prosecution’s motion a scare tactic and an effort to muzzle the defense.

“The state is attempting through their motion to anticipate and silence the defendant prior to the trial even starting,” said Mark Rudy, one of Roeder’s public defenders.

Rudy added that the motion “misinterprets case law” and “demonstrates the state’s willingness to resort to fear-mongering by employing overreaching and nonsensical statements.”

Also on Monday, a lawyer for Tiller’s widow, Jeanne, filed a motion to quash a subpoena for Tiller’s business records that was sought by Roeder’s defense.

Attorney Lee Thompson said in the motion that the only conceivable relevance the defense could claim for the documents might be in building a case for voluntary manslaughter.

“To permit such a defense would re-write historic common law and allow anyone who disagreed with legal abortion to peremptorily murder an abortion provider,” Thompson wrote.

In another unusual move, Wilbert closed the jury selection to the media, saying it would “in all likelihood create a chilling effect on the juror candor required for the state and defendant to pick a fair an impartial jury.”

The Kansas City Star, The Wichita Eagle, The Associated Press and KWCH-TV are asking the Kansas Supreme Court to open access to juror questioning.

In an order issued Monday, Wilbert said that about 140 potential jurors had filled out a questionnaire that asked “very personal and sensitive questions regarding their religious beliefs, their views on abortion, their knowledge of George Tiller and any pretrial publicity regarding the defendant.”

Because of that, the judge said, both the prosecution and defense had requested that the court file the questionnaire under seal and that the media not be allowed to cover the jury selection process.

Wilbert said 61 potential jurors will be in the first panel and that both sides have requested that each one be questioned individually.