4/22/10

Abortion doc's killer files petition; hearing set (AP)

WICHITA, Kan. — The convicted killer of a Kansas abortion provider has filed a petition complaining of his treatment in prison and seeking his release.

A hearing on Scott Roeder's habeus corpus petition is scheduled for June 4 before Judge Timothy Henderson in Wichita. A habeus corpus petition requires a judge to determine whether the government can continue to hold a prisoner.

The court docket shows Roeder filed the initial paperwork himself in February. His court-appointed attorney, Michael Brown, could not immediately be reached for comment.

All the documents in a separate civil case involving Roeder have been sealed.

The murder case against him for killing Dr. George Tiller is now under appeal.

Read Scott Roeder's petition for habeas corpus

4/5/10

The Marc Chamot Report: Scott Roeder's Tiller Killing Sends Chills & FEARS to Liberal Politicians & Legal Immigrants Abandoning California/U.S. & They're Taking their Wealth

Friday, April 2, 2010

Scott Roeder's Tiller Killing Sends Chills & FEARS to Liberal Politicians & Legal Immigrants Abandoning California/U.S. & They're Taking their Wealth

Scott Roeder's Tiller Killing Sends BIG Chills & FEARS to Liberal Left Politicians & Legal Immigrants Abandoning California/U.S. & They're Taking their Wealth With Them:
By Marc Chamot

Today is Friday; I’m going to entwine two different stories into one huge topic. The Scott Roeder’s Kansas abortion killing, and the sad economical state in our country, things just not getting any better, it’s getting worse.

I’m once again giving my untainted, ACID laced, and sober, angry rants as to what the heck is going on in my country.

Percentage of immigrants in California decreasing “For the first time in 50 years, the percentage of foreign-born residents living in California began decreasing in 2008, and the numbers will likely continue dropping, according to a USC study released Wednesday.

According to the report by USC demographics professor Dowell Myers and senior researcher John Pitkin, the immigrant population could return close to its 2000 level sometime this year.”

Both California and the U.S. are experiencing floods of legal and illegal immigrants leaving the country and the state.

Most are heading back to their countries of origins. Unfortunately for the wealthy immigrants who made their entire wealth on the backs of this great giving nation, the U.S. of A, my country has become more of an economic liability for them to keep on living here. And there's going to be even more money taken out of our economy in California and the United States, which means less tax revenues and less merchandises’ being bought by people.

But hey, thanks a whole lot! After years of coming here, with greater opportunities in working secured high paying jobs, and after stripping our national wealth, by sending trillions of dollars throughout the years abroad, and now you’ve got those cheaper villas built back in your home countries, where the dollar lets you live like a king, and where as the rest of us here in America land are still living like paupers.

Now that our past American politicians have left this country in total economical and immigration chaos, my country totally broke; immigrants are leaving us high and dry and left US holding the national debt bags.

Thanks to the lame Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which OPENED up the floodgates of legal and illegal immigrants into this country that was proposed by United States Representative Emanuel Celler of New York and co-sponsored by United States Senator Philip Hart of Michigan (known as "the Conscience of the Senate"), and was heavily supported by United States Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts - all Democrats.[1]

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 called for the elimination of The National Origins Formula, which was an American system of immigration quotas, between 1921 and 1965, which restricted immigration on the basis of existing proportions of the population.

The goal was to maintain the existing ethnic composition of the United States. It had the effect of giving low quotas to Eastern and Southern Europe. Opposition mainly came from conservative Republicans and Southern Democrats. On October 3, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the legislation into law.

This 1965 law opened up the floodgates of some disloyal foreigners who only came here to exploit our financial opportunities’ for their own and families’ personal benefits abroad.

So what these idiotic former President Lyndon B. Johnson signed with the then Democratic majorities in the House and Senate forty-five years ago, my country is feeling the repercussions’ of it now.

But whoa there, wait a minute Marc Chamot! Weren’t you once an immigrant yourself?

I’m not saying all immigrants fall into that category, I’m sure that there are millions like me, who are loyal Americans and want to see America the way it was before the nineteen-seventies. As to what the above in the National Origins Formula, said “the goal was to maintain the existing ethnic composition of the United States” they really succeeded in destroying our American culture today.

Not only, our ethnicity dominance in America was at stake, where whites, American Indians and African Americans are fast becoming minorities from former majorities in this great land of ours. Our economic stability was also being severely damaged, by those ingrates’ in the U.S. congress and by some of the people they have allowed to come here.

I got this comment from a British reader the other day, “Interesting to read what's going on in the US, from here in the UK, seems like you are being lumbered with the same sort of policies that have been ruining this country over recent years.” http://weeklywinna.ws/ about the Marc Chamot Report on linkrefferal.com

My British reader hit it right on the proverbial nail! We’re lucky though, and thank GOD to that. Our foreign invasions into this country for the past decades, have mainly been from non-terroristic countries, like Central and South America and Asia. Unlike the British, they have a real cancer in their hands; they have allowed dangerous Islamic extremists, religious fascists and terrorists into theirs.

Even though I’m Pro-Life, and don’t support gay marriages, I’m not a RABID advocate for those issues as others. And certainly, it’s not worth to take some ones’ life over it.

It’s shocking, the energy and the extreme angers and violence that go behind those two issues, especially when we’ve got bigger disasters on our hands, like massive unemployment’s, lack of job availabilities for most Americans, national debts, and deficits way out of control, which may even bankrupt our once fine nation and amnesties for illegal aliens in the works. It’s absolute chaos.

With the late-term abortionist doctor, George Tiller’s killing, Scott Roeder, the killer inadvertently did something that most folks don’t realize. He won his fight, he actually won his abortion war in Kansas, and it really doesn’t matter if he’s going to be locked up for over fifty-years, he’s going to be a hero in some people’s eyes, especially his own.

After the doctor’s killing, it’s become harder to get an abortion in Kansas. George Tiller’s old clinic is closed; the state has no other facility where women can have the procedure after 21 weeks of pregnancy.

No one has even DARED to come in after Tiller’s killing. And the state is formulating a new law to avoid having another Dr Tiller from ever coming to Kansas again. “The national anti-abortion movement has a tremendous VICTORY here,” said Dr. Warren Hern, a Colorado late term abortionist. Scott Roeder accomplished exactly what he wanted, period. It’s a VERY powerful thing that Scott Roeder did, had he been executed, he could have been a martyr for the cause. See full story: Kansas abortions down - killer to be sentenced

But then again, how far is somebody willing to protect the decimating of the American constitution? This is a powerful example of what people do when their beliefs are being totally ignored by government, and even though the abortion and gay marriages aren’t as explosive to most, unlike the economical, jobs and immigration issues and going after the culpable parties, i.e. INEPT Left-Wing Washington and state politicians’ HIDES, is a stark possibility. Just imagine what kind of message it would send, if an angry believer should decide to ACT? It’s something to think about, eh?

More on the Immigration Reports:
While previous forecasts predicted that California's immigrant population - which was 26.2 percent in 2000 - would rise to 30 percent by 2020, the latest study found that the foreign-born population rose by just 1.2 percent, then began slipping backward in 2008.

The report found that immigrant arrivals in California declined more sharply than in the rest of the nation, with arrivals in Los Angeles County falling even more.

"The peak and decline of the foreign-born population has occurred earlier than expected, largely due to the sharp declines in new immigrant arrivals that are accompanying the economic downturn," said Myers, a professor in the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development. "Meanwhile, the transition to a homegrown majority occurred as early as 2000 in the state as a whole, but was slower to come to Southern California."

According to the study, the percentage of foreign-born residents in Los Angeles County was expected to dip by 1.2 percent between 2000 and this year.

The study found that the foreign-born population in Los Angeles County fell from 36.2 percent in 2000 to 35.2 percent in 2008. In Orange County, the number remained relatively stagnant, going from 29.9 percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2008.

Statewide, the foreign-born population rose slightly from 26.2 percent to 26.8 percent.

Scott Roeder sentencing update: Psychologist says Roeder is mentally competent By Ron Sylvester, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

Scott Roeder sentencing update: Psychologist says Roeder is mentally competent

By Ron Sylvester, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

By Ron Sylvester, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

Apr. 1--WICHITA -- The defense has called George Hough, a psychologist from Topeka, as its next witness in today's sentencing of Scott Roeder, convicted killer of Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

Hough met with Roeder twice last summer for five hours each in the county jail.

"My assessment was he was (mentally) competent," Hough said.

This afternoon, the court heard from a string of people who served as character witnesses on Roeder's behalf.

David Leach from Iowa, the fourth person to speak on Roeder's behalf, said that Roeder is a smart guy who has been maligned in the press and by his ex-wives.

Regina Dinwiddie of Kansas City was the third person to speak as a character witness for Roeder.

"I've never known him to swear or lie," she said, adding that he was polite to all the women who protested at the abortion clinic.

"He never uttered a threat," Dinwiddie said.

"Scott is not a vengeful man. He is a compassionate man," he said.

Katherine Coons, the second person to speak on Roeder's behalf, told the court, "This was not a hate crime. He just had a heart for the babies."

Eugene Frye, the first speaker, said he's known "and prayed with" Roeder since the 1990s.

"Everyone I've talked to about Scott said he was never threatening or mean spirited to them," said Frye, who quoted Bible scripture about Roeder's anti-abortion beliefs.

"Not one time did I ever hear him speak of violence to anyone," he said.

Frye said that the first time he saw Roeder upset was after a jury found Tiller not guilty of misdemeanor charges a couple of months before his death.

"My plea is you consider these. . . and impose the lesser sentence," Frye said.

Earlier in this morning's proceedings, Sedgwick County Judge Warren Wilbert analyzed the law and the arguments.

Wilbert next will hear mitigating factors from the defense. These are the reasons the defense believes the crime worthy of less serious punishment.

If mitigating factors do not outweigh aggravating factors, the Hard 50 will be applicable.

Wilbert only has to find one aggravating factor to warrant the Hard 50 for Roeder. That is a sentence of life without parole for at least 50 years. That would essentially preclude parole for Roeder.

A jury found Roeder guilty of first-degree murder after only 37 minutes of deliberations on Jan. 29 in the May 2009 killing of Tiller in the foyer of his Wichita church.

Wilbert said he does consider the shooting in the church as heinous.

"He didn't kill him in the parking lot," he said. "He didn't go early enough to get him going into the church."

Roeder choose to kill Tiller in the very place that abhors violence, Wilbert said.

Wilbert found that Roeder's killing of Tiller did not provide a threat to more than one person.

The threat to others did not occur simultaneously to the killing, as required under the law, he said. Those were separate threats, and Roeder was convicted of those assault charges, Warren said.

The deceased doesn't have to feel pain to meet the heinous, atrocious and cruel standard, he said.

And the law does provide for previous stalking. There is ample evidence Roeder stalked Tiller, Warren said.

The law also provides for prior planning, he said.

Public defender Mark Rudy argued that there are no aggravating factors that warrant the Hard 50 for Roeder.

Rudy said that the public defenders offer condolences to the Tiller family.

"But today, I'm going to ask you to follow the law," he said.

Rudy said that the law contemplates that the person suffered.

"That didn't happen, here, thank God," Rudy said, adding that Tiller probably died instantly.

Rudy said that the legislature and appeals courts have been clear: not all killings are heinous, atrocious and cruel. Otherwise, he said, all first-degree murder could be classified as Hard 50 cases.

Rudy said that Roeder testified he placed the gun to Tiller's head because he wanted to make sure no one else was hurt.

"(The church) was a place of opportunity", not an attempt to harm anyone else, Rudy said.

He added, "I will stipulate (Roeder) has no remorse. He should get the maximum." That is life in prison without the Hard 50.

Before a short morning recess, District Attorney Nola Foulston asked Wilbert to impose the Hard 50.

"This person presents a clear and present danger," Foulston said of Roeder.

If Roeder ever gets out of prison, he will be under lifetime supervision of a parole officer, Wilbert said.

Attorney Lee Thompson said that Tiller's family supports the Hard 50.

Foulston presented arguments for the Hard 50 and outlined aggravating circumstances required by law.

Because Roeder shot him in his church, he put other people in harm's way, Foulston said.

That is enough to ask the court to consider this murder "especially cruel, heinous and atrocious."

Roeder's stalking of Tiller over months and years also is recognized by law as a supporting factor, Foulston said.

Foulston recounted Roeder's repeated visits to Tiller's church with a gun. "Each time was a criminal act" that the court may consider.

During her rebuttal, Foulston said, "(Roeder) believed he was on a mission and his mission was righteous."

"When a crime is planned as a political or terrorist assassination. . . that type of case is different (from other murders)," she said.

He wants his constitutional rights, but he ended Dr. Tiller's constitutional right to perform abortion, Foulston said.

At this morning's sentencing, Thompson gave a statement on behalf of the Tiller family.

"We aren't dealing with free speech or the right of expression in this case," Thompson said. "(Roeder) has committed an act of terrorism."

He said it is an act of terrorism characterized by Roeder's boasting about the crime.

This is a hate crime deserving of the maximum sentence under the law, Thompson said.

At the beginning of his address, Thompson talked about Tiller's love for his family.

"George Tiller was known as an abortion doctor .. But he was so much more than that," Thompson said.

"This man did nothing halfway. He was never a halfway father."

Thompson said that he never stopped being active in his children's lives.

"They are desperately sorry and grieving over his loss," he said.

"This murder has extinguished this family devotion," Thompson said.

Thompson said that Tiller, a devoted grandfather to 10, daily wore a button that said "Attitude is everything".

He also talked about Tiller's medical career. He was a caring physician who received thousands of letters from patients who came to him in the most difficult part of their lives, Thompson said.

"The impact of this crime is felt on the medical profession far beyond Wichita," he said. "He gave his life for the rights of women."

During Thompson's address, Roeder stared, not looking at Thompson or the family.

At the beginning of this morning's proceedings, Wilbert reminded spectators about courtroom decorum. He said that any outbursts would be treated as contempt.

-----

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Kan. judge considers church location in sentencing By ROXANA HEGEMAN Associated Press Writer

Kan. judge considers church location in sentencing

By ROXANA HEGEMAN

Associated Press Writer

WICHITA, Kan. - A Kansas judge's decision that an abortion doctor's killer deserved more time in prison because the murder took place in a church didn't surprise legal experts in this conservative Midwest state, and they said such a finding isn't likely to be grounds for a reversal.

"In a state that is sort of a Bible-belt state where people take ... a lot of public reverence about religion, that would be something that would be very disturbing to people," said Michael Kaye, director of Washburn University School of Law's Center for Excellence in Advocacy in Topeka.

When District Judge Warren Wilbert sentenced Scott Roeder on Thursday to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years, the judge cited a Kansas law allowing stiffer sentences in specific "aggravating circumstances," such as stalking. The statute also permits longer prison terms for "any other conduct in the opinion of the court that is especially heinous, atrocious or cruel."

"The question is whether being killed in a church is atrocious, heinous or cruel," Kaye said. "Or is it simply outrageous? There are differences."

Roeder, 52, was convicted of first-degree murder in the May 21 shooting of George Tiller as the doctor was ushering at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita. The Kansas City, Mo., man also was found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault of two ushers who tried to stop him after the shooting.

Roeder testified at his January trial that he decided to kill Tiller at the church because he couldn't get into other places, such as the doctor's house in a gated subdivision and his heavily fortified clinic.

"The location chosen by the defendant to meet his need for access - with total disregard to the reverence that should be shown a house of worship - is in this court's opinion heinous, atrocious and cruel," Wilbert said.

The judge said a church was supposed to be a "place of peace and tranquility" and noted parishioners, including children, were confronted with a "horrific scene" as they left the sanctuary after the shooting.

A defiant Roeder told the judge during sentencing that he didn't consider the building where he killed Tiller a church because the people there didn't hold Tiller accountable for performing abortions. He called it a "synagogue of Satan," saying its members embraced a "mass murderer."

The church's pastors, who attended the sentencing with Tiller's family, didn't return a message Friday seeking comment.

The judge also noted Roeder stalked his victim and planned the killing, aggravating factors that also justified the maximum sentence.

Even if the Kansas Supreme Court ultimately rules Wilbert improperly considered the church location as an aggravating factor, there's enough other evidence, including the stalking, to support the longer prison term, Kaye said.

"When they look at error, they will have to weigh error in connection with all the other evidence, all the errors made, and I doubt they will come up with an error in that trial," he said. "That was a pretty carefully tried case."

Judges historically have a lot of discretion in sentencing, and it's permissible for them to consider the context of a crime and its impact, said Richard Levy, a law professor at the University of Kansas.

Levy also said he didn't think an appeals court would overturn the sentence because Wilbert didn't make any explicit references to religion in his ruling.

"It is not because the church has some particular status as hallowed ground per se," Levy said. "But the aggravation is the collateral damage that is being caused to people who are at the church in the disruption of their spirituality."

4/4/10

Doctor's killer sentenced to life in prison Published: 4/1/10, 9:00 PM EDT By the CNN Wire Staff

Doctor's killer sentenced to life in prison

Published: 4/1/10, 9:00 PM EDT
By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) - The man convicted of killing Kansas abortion provider Dr. George Tiller last year was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole eligibility for 50 years.

Scott Roeder, 52, was facing a minimum mandatory life sentence, but a Kansas judge had the power to decide whether he could be eligible for parole after 25 years or after 50.

"The blood of babies is in your hands," Roeder said as he was escorted from a Wichita, Kansas, courtroom on Thursday evening, referring to the district attorney who prosecuted him.

The Tiller family praised the sentence in a statement Thursday night.

"It is the most severe penalty available ... under Kansas law," the family said. "This crime was cruel and heinous not only because it took our husband, father and grandfather, but because it was a hate crime committed against George -- [and] also against all women and their constitutional rights."

Roeder was convicted in January of murdering Tiller, who operated a clinic in Wichita, Kansas, where late-term abortions were performed. Tiller was shot to death in May in the foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita as Sunday services began.

Speaking before his sentencing, Roeder blasted Tiller, quoted the Bible at length and argued the slaying was justified because he was protecting the unborn.

"You have the power to acquit and if you were to obey the higher power, God himself, you would acquit me," Roeder told the judge, Warren Wilbert, before the sentence was handed down.

The sentence included an additional 24 months in prison for two aggravated assault convictions related to Tiller's murder.

Before the sentence was handed down, Roeder said in court Thursday that he agonized over the decision to kill Tiller, but said the act was done so that the doctor could not "kill again."

"It was the most agonizing and stressful decision I have ever had to make, and it took years to come to this conclusion, especially with the knowledge that I may never see my son, my daughter or my family again," Roeder said at his sentencing at the Sedgwick County Courthouse.

"It is the duty of the state of Kansas to protect all of the people, including those whom George Tiller killed. Had the courts acted rightfully, I would have not shot George Tiller," he said.

"The blame for George Tiller's death lies more with the state of Kansas than with me," he said. He spoke quickly and clearly.

Earlier in the sentencing, Tiller's attorney, Lee Thompson, spoke on behalf of the slain doctor's family, saying that Tiller's killing was "domestic terrorism" that robbed a family of a husband, father and grandfather.

"This man was devoted to his family. ... He was very important, and they are desperately sorry and grieving over his loss," Thompson told the court.

"He's committed an act of terrorism, a heinous, atrocious, cruel murder planned, plotted and devised for years and years and designed and executed solely for the purpose of killing someone with whom he disagreed," Thompson said.

Prosecutors argued for life in prison without the opportunity for parole until after 50 years.

"I believe he should be given the longest sentence possible," District Attorney Nola Foulston said Thursday.

But Mark Rudy, an assistant public defender, said there were no aggravating factors to warrant the "hard 50." He told the judge that he and the defense team offered condolences to Tiller's family and asked that "you follow the law."

Wilbert, the judge, said that the aggravating factors included the fact that Tiller was shot in his church.

"Reformation Lutheran Church was not holding Tiller accountable for his sins," Roeder responded. "They were not a true church. ... It was a synagogue of Satan, as the Bible talks about."

After Roeder had spoken for about 40 minutes about what he said was the biblical justification for the killing, Wilbert stopped him. "I'm sorry, I'm not providing you a forum for an all-night dissertation on the political debate on the issue of abortion," Wilbert said.

Eugene Frye, who spoke Thursday on Roeder's behalf, said he has known and prayed with him since the mid-1990s and described him as polite and courteous. He said Roeder "could and would" spend hours discussing abortion and the Bible.

"I know Scott's character cannot be separated from abortion," he said in asking for the lesser sentence.

During his trial, Roeder testified he believed he had to kill Tiller to save lives and said he had no regrets.

"There was nothing being done, and the legal process had been exhausted, and these babies were dying every day," he said. "I felt that if someone did not do something, he was going to continue."

George Hough, a psychologist who examined Roeder at the behest of the defense, said Roeder was competent. "He did know what he was doing," Hough said.

Roeder felt justified and didn't feel guilty, Hough said. Roeder believed there was a higher law, God's law, according to Hough.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Ann Swengel called Roeder's testimony "chillingly horrific" and said he carried out a "planned assassination."

Prosecutors initially fought to keep abortion out of the trial, saying that Tiller's death was a straightforward case of premeditated murder.

Eventually, the abortion issue took center stage as prosecutors portrayed Tiller as a target of Roeder's anti-abortion agenda, and defense attorneys attempted to mitigate his culpability under the theory that he believed Tiller's death was justified to save the lives of others.

Defense attorney Steve Osburn said after the verdict that Roeder "feels remorse toward the family, but not for what he did."

The trial drew activists from both sides of the abortion debate to the courtroom, and a van plastered with slogans and photos of fetuses was parked in a prominent spot in front of the courthouse.

Among the attendees were the Rev. Michael Bray, whose history in the anti-abortion movement includes 1985 conspiracy convictions in connection with a string of clinic bombings, and Katherine Spillar, executive vice president of the Feminist Majority Foundation.

Congregants from Reformation Lutheran testified they had seen Roeder at church several times before the day he killed Tiller by shooting him at point-blank range in the head.

Roeder's defense team did not dispute much of the evidence. Roeder testified he chose to target Tiller at church because it presented the best "window of opportunity" to attack the doctor, who traveled in an armored vehicle and whose clinic was a "fortress."

Speaking about the church Thursday, Hough said it was the only place where Roeder felt Tiller was vulnerable. "It solved his access problem," he said.

Abortion doctor's killer uses sentencing as forum By ROXANA HEGEMAN Associated Press Writer

Abortion doctor's killer uses sentencing as forum

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press Writer

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man who murdered one of the few U.S. doctors who performed late-term abortions used his sentencing hearing as a forum to espouse his views in an effort to justify his crime, arguing that he had chosen to obey “God's law” to save babies.

Scott Roeder was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years, the longest sentence possible under Kansas law for first-degree murder. The 52-year-old Kansas City, Mo., man killed George Tiller as he was serving as an usher last May in the foyer of the doctor's church in Wichita.

“I stopped him so he could not dismember another innocent baby,” Roeder said. “Wichita is a far safer place for unborn babies without George Tiller.”

Roeder also was sentenced to an additional year in prison on each of two counts of aggravated assault for threatening two church ushers as he fled. With time off for good behavior, Roeder won't be eligible for parole for 51 years and eight months.

An attorney for Tiller, speaking in court as a friend of the slain doctor, said the toughest sentence would discourage other anti-abortion zealots from attacking doctors. Tiller's widow, Jeanne, cried as the sentence for murder was announced.

“We only can hope that this sentence will serve as a deterrent to those who have conspired and continue to conspire to murder abortion providers,” the Tiller family said in a statement. “Certainly everything possible should be done by the prison system to insure that this man does not continue to foment hatred and violence from his prison cell.”

District Judge Warren Wilbert could have made Roeder eligible for parole on the murder charge after 25 years. But he said there was evidence Roeder stalked Tiller and added that killing him in a church made the crime heinous because a house of worship is meant to be “a place of peace and tranquility.”

Roeder took the opportunity to describe abortion procedures in detail, which he had been prohibited from doing during his trial. Most abortions are legal in Kansas, and prosecutors were careful not turn the trial into a referendum on the issue.

Roeder accused Wilbert of “duplicity” and said his trial was a miscarriage of justice because he wasn't allowed to present testimony then about the evils of abortion. He also said God's judgment against the U.S. will “sweep over this land like a prairie wind.”

“He will avenge every drop of innocent blood,” Roeder said.

Forty minutes into his remarks, Wilbert stopped Roeder as he was about to publicly attack District Attorney Nola Foulston.

“It is not a forum for you to get on a soap box for you to give your entire political beliefs,” Wilbert told Roeder.

Roeder later interrupted Wilbert several times as the judge pronounced sentence. When Wilbert read from a previous court decision saying that allowing vigilantism would promote chaos, Roeder said, “Baby murder is anarchy and chaos.”

As he was being led away in handcuffs after the sentencing, Roeder shouted, “Blood of babies on your hands.”

During the hearing, four of Roeder's friends described him as a friendly, compassionate man who became angry at the state's refusal to stop Tiller's practice. He was motivated by a strong believe that abortion is wrong, not a desire to become famous or lead a movement, they said.

“Scott longs to be a law-abiding citizen,” said Dave Leach, an anti-abortion activist from Des Moines, Iowa. “He hates anarchy. He wants to do what he can to make America better.”

Lee Thompson, the Tiller family's attorney and friend, called the murder an act of domestic terrorism. He said his office still receives calls from women seeking medical services.

“The impact of his death on women throughout the world is like an earthquake,” Thompson said. “They ask, where can I go? What will I do?' I have to say, 'I'm sorry, I can't tell you.' That's the impact of this crime.”

———

Associated Press Writer John Hanna contributed to this report.

4/2/10

Doctor's killer sentenced to life in prison By the CNN Wire Staff April 1, 2010 11:03 p.m. EDT

Life for Dr. Tiller's Killer

Scott Roeder gets Hard 50 in murder of abortion provider George Tiller BY RON SYLVESTER The Wichita Eagle

Scott Roeder gets Hard 50 in murder of abortion provider George Tiller

BY RON SYLVESTER

The Wichita Eagle

It took only 37 minutes to convict Scott Roeder of murder in January; it took nine hours Thursday to sentence him.

As expected, Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert sentenced Roeder, 52, to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years for the murder of Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

“I have to say, Scott Roeder has no regrets and neither do I,” District Attorney Nola Foulston said afterward.

“As I listened to Mr. Roeder, it confirmed my belief he is a person who should not be in our community.”

During the hearing, Roeder interrupted lawyers and the judge and also spoke for 45 minutes in an attempt to mitigate his sentence. He read for 30 minutes from a book written by a man executed for killing an abortion doctor in Florida and compared his plight to that of Jesus Christ.

“The blood of babies is on your hands, Nola Foulston . . . and Ann Swegle,” Roeder yelled at prosecutors as sheriff’s deputies pushed him out of the courtroom after he was sentenced.

Roeder’s sentence was the maximum allowed under Kansas law.

“This crime was cruel and heinous, not only because it took our husband, father and grandfather, but because it was a hate crime committed against George — against all women and their constitutional rights,” Tiller’s family said through attorney Lee Thompson after the hearing ended.

During Roeder’s trial, a jury came back by lunch on Jan. 29 with a guilty verdict against Roeder, convicting him of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault in the May 31 shooting of Tiller in the foyer of his church.

Entering Thursday’s hearing, a life sentence was never in doubt. That’s mandated under Kansas law.

The only question was whether Roeder would be eligible for parole after 25 years or 50.

At day’s end, Wilbert decided to impose the so-called Hard 50. He also sentenced Roeder to a year on each count of aggravated assault — for pointing his gun at Gary Hoepner and Keith Martin as they chased him from the church after Tiller’s killing.

Wilbert ordered those sentences to run consecutively to the Hard 50. Wilbert said that if Roeder lives past 102 then gets parole, he also faces lifetime supervision after his release.

‘This was a difficult case,’’ Foulston said outside the courthouse. “The difficulty was apparent from the emotion that rang across the courtroom, across our community and across the world.”

Thompson said the family wanted to focus on Tiller’s legacy as a health care provider who trusted women to make the choices that would affect their health and lives.

“Dr. Tiller’s story is being told every day in the lives of the women he helped. His legacy cannot be diminished by the act of a single terrorist,” Thompson said.

Thompson also addressed the court on the family’s behalf, as is their right at sentencing, talking about Tiller’s love for his family.

“George Tiller was known as an abortion doctor . . . but he was so much more than that,” Thompson said.

“This man did nothing halfway. He was never a halfway father,” Thompson said. “This murder has extinguished this family devotion.”

During Thompson’s address, Roeder stared straight ahead, not looking at Thompson or the Tiller family.

A full day in court

Roeder called four friends who had protested with him outside women’s clinics in Kansas City as character witnesses.

Judge Wilbert strongly admonished each of them that he would not allow them to make political statements about abortion.

“Everyone I’ve talked to about Scott said he was never threatening or mean-spirited to them,” said Eugene Frye, who quoted Bible verses about Roeder’s anti-abortion beliefs.

“Not one time did I ever hear him speak of violence to anyone,” Frye added.

Throughout the day Roeder interrupted lawyers and the judge, yelling that he killed Tiller “to protect unborn babies.”

During his statement, Roeder read from prepared remarks for 45 minutes, 30 of which he spent reading from a book by Paul Hill, executed for the 1994 murder of a Florida abortion provider.

When Roeder began to disparage Foulston, Wilbert stopped him.

“You killed Dr. Tiller. You’re not going to politically assassinate Nola Foulston,” the judge said. “I’m going to draw the line there.”

Public defenders Steve Osburn and Mark Rudy objected to Wilbert limiting Roeder’s chance to address the court.

“This is what he believes,” Osburn said. “This is what he thinks you need to decide on a sentence.”

Wilbert reviewed the documents that Roeder wished to read before the court. Wilbert said some were not relevant.

“I will accept them and seal them, and they will be part of the record,” Wilbert said.

That way the appeals courts can decide whether it all should have been presented in open court, he said.

Roeder spoke of a higher power, how he followed God’s laws, not man’s laws, when it came to abortion.

“If you would follow a higher power, you would acquit me,” Roeder told Wilbert.

“If you think you’re going to convince me with some last-minute plea, you’re wasting your time,” Wilbert said.

When Roeder said he wanted to address expectant mothers, Wilbert stopped him again.

“I’m not going to provide you with an all-night political forum,” Wilbert said as the hearing, which began at 9:15a.m., neared 5 p.m.

Prosecutor Ann Swegle argued that Roeder does not follow the law of the God he claims to worship.

“That says ‘Do not kill,’ ” Swegle said.

Psychologist testifies

Psychologist George Hough from Topeka said Roeder adopted extreme Christian beliefs in the early 1990s and began to obsess about abortion.

“He described an increasing sense of urgency to take action,” said Hough, who was called to testify by the defense.

“He saw himself as a foot soldier,” Hough said, adding that Roeder used war imagery in the way he talked about it.

On cross-examination, Swegle asked the psychologist whether Roeder “could act on his own free will.”

“Yes,” Hough replied.

Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-6514 or rsylvester@wichitaeagle.com.

4/1/10

Judge Sentences Scott Roeder to Life in Prison

Scott Roeder sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole for 52 years

BY RON SYLVESTER

The Wichita Eagle

WICHITA — Judge Wilbert sentenced Scott Roeder to life with the Hard 50 for the first-degree murder of abortion provider George Tiller.

Wilbert also sentenced Roeder to 12 months on each count to run consecutive for the aggravated assault of Gary Hoepner and Keith Martin, the men Roeder pointed the gun at after he shot Tiller.

Wilbert told Roeder he can earn a 15 percent good time credit and has 10 days to file an appeal. Wilbert said if Roeder lives past 102, then gets parole, he also faces lifetime supervision after his release.

Roeder yelled "The blood of babies is on your hands, Nola Foulston ... And Ann Swegle," as guards quickly ushered him out of court.

Afterward, District Attorney Nola Foulston spoke outside of the courthouse.

''This was an act of terrorism, an act of brutality,'' Foulston said. 'It was abundantly clear this was an individual who chose to follow a path of lawlessness.''

''This was a difficult case,'' Foulston added. 'The difficulty was apparent from the emotion that rang across the courtroom, ...across our community and across the world."

"I have to say, Scott Roeder has no regrets and neither do I.," Foulston said. "As I listened to Mr Roeder, it confirmed my belief he is a person who should not be in our community."

Earlier, Judge Wilbert reviewed documents that Scott Roeder wished to read before the court. Wilbert said part of it was not relevant to the hearing. He noted and accepted the rest.

"I will accept them and seal them and they will be part of the record," Wilbert said. That way appeals courts can decide if it all should have been presented in open court, the judge said. He asked if Roeder if he had anything further to say.

"As for the Hard 50, I don't think I deserve that," Roeder said. Wilbert then read the law to Roeder on the aggravating factor he decided.

Roeder spoke about shooting Tiller at a church. "They were not holding Tiller accountable for his sins. Reformation Lutheran was not a true church," he said. Roeder then began to talk about members and pastors of the church. Judge Wilbert shut him down once again.

"It only takes one or two sentences to say I didn't believe it was a holy place ... The rest is just political diatribe," Wilbert said. After Roeder said he wanted to address expectant mothers, Wilbert stopped him again, saying, "I'm not going to provide you with an all-night political forum."

Public defender Mark Rudy argued mitigating factors against the Hard 50 are lack of criminal history and Roeder had an impaired capacity to conform his conduct to the law. "We believe those two factors outweigh the aggravating circumstances," Rudy said.

Ann Swegle argued for the prosecution, "He doesn't of the law of the God he says he follows. That says do not kill."

Earlier, Scott Roeder read a written statement for 40 minutes in his sentencing hearing today, before Judge Wilbert stopped him, saying "It is your opportunity to convince me you need a lesser sentence. It is not a soapbox for your political views."

Steve Osburn, Roeder's public defender, asked the judge if Roeder could continue. "This is what he believes. This is what he thinks you need to decide on a sentence," Osburn said.

After Roeder spoke off his notes, Wilbert responded "You killed Dr. Tiller. You're not going to politically assassinate Nola Foulston. I'm going to draw the line there."

"If you would follow a higher power, you would acquit me," Roeder said.

"If you think you're going to convince me with some last-minute plea, you're wasting your time," Wilbert responded. Wilbert said Roeder should focus on the Hard 50. That's the only decision left today.

Osburn objected to the court stopping Roeder's right to speak. Wilbert said he hadn't stopped Roeder; he had offered guidance.

"We have 10 abortion providers or less and 50 million who have perished at their hands," Roeder said in the statement.

He added, "How is it a man can speak openly and freely at his sentencing but not at his trial?"

"This court stifled my testimony," he continued.

"The blame for George Tiller's death lies more with the state of Kansas, than with me. You may sentence me to 25 or 50 years in prison but it does not serve justice in any way."

Roeder then read from a book by Paul Hill, who killed a Fla. doctor. "I agree with Paul Hill wholeheartedly." "God will avenge every drop of blood that stains Kansas grass," he continued. Roeder quoted the 10 Commandments and other Old Testament scripture.

"Give me liberty to defend the unborn or give me death," Roeder said.

Roeder has been convicted in the death Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

Before Roeder read his statement, psychologist George Hough from Topeka was cross-examined.

Prosecutor Ann Swegle asked the psychologist if Roeder "could act on his own free will?"

"Yes," Hough replied.

Swegle later asked Hough, "Doesn't God say not to kill?"

Roeder then blurted out, "To protect unborn babies. I can't just sit here anymore." Deputies all stepped a little closer.

Judge Wilbert threatened to remove Roeder from the courtroom until it is his turn to talk if he doesn't remain silent.

"I have already said I will have to give you broad latitude," Wilbert said.

A jury found Roeder guilty of first-degree murder after only 37 minutes of deliberations on Jan. 29 in the May 2009 killing of Tiller in the foyer of his Wichita church.

During examination by the defense, Hough said that Roeder began to obsess about abortion.

"He described an increasing sense of urgency to take action," he said.

"He saw himself as a foot soldier," Hough said, and used a lot of war imagery in the way he talked about it.

Hough also said that Roeder idolized Paul Hill, who was executed for killing an abortion doctor in Florida.

Roeder said that Tiller's church was the only place the doctor was vulnerable, Hough said.

"He felt justified, Hough said. "He didn't feel guilty. He felt he had done what he'd needed to do for a long time."

"He said there was a higher law," he said. "God's law over man's law."