Tiller Trial

Will Admitted Killer Of Abortion Doc Be Allowed To Put Abortion On Trial?

Justin Elliott | January 26, 2010, 11:30AM

Dr. George Tiller and Scott Roeder

Pro-choice groups fear a decision by the judge in the murder trial of abortion doctor George Tiller will essentially give defendant Scott Roeder a high-profile platform to argue that he was justified in killing Tiller last May.

In what one legal expert calls an "unprecedented" decision, Sedgwick County Judge Warren Wilbert two weeks ago declined to bar Roeder's lawyers from pursuing a defense based on "voluntary manslaughter" -- a lesser charge than first-degree murder that carries a sentence of roughly five years. Roeder faces a life sentence if convicted of murder.

But attorneys for pro-choice groups tell TPMmuckraker the real fear is not that Roeder will be convicted of the lesser crime, but that the judge's move sets a bad precedent, and could in essence put the issue of abortion and Tiller's practice on trial.

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