Philly abortion doctor found guilty of killing 3 tots
Source: Agencies |
May 15, 2013, Wednesday
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A Philadelphia doctor was found guilty on Monday of murdering three babies during abortions at a clinic serving low-income women in a case that cast a spotlight on the controversial practice of late-term abortions in the United States.
Dr Kermit Gosnell, 72, who ran the now-shuttered Women's Medical Society Clinic, faces the possibility of the death penalty. The case focused on whether the infants were born alive and were then killed.
He was accused of delivering live babies during late-term abortions and then deliberately severing their spinal cords.
Gosnell, clad in a maroon shirt and a red tie, was stoic as the foreman read the verdicts.
The trial, which anti-abortion advocates had complained was being ignored by the media because of a bias in favor of abortion rights, was punctuated by graphic testimony.
The jury heard five weeks of testimony in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia and deliberated for 10 days.
Gosnell also was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the case of Karnamaya Mongar, 41, of Virginia, who died from a drug overdose after going to him for an abortion.
He was also found guilty of performing 21 abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy at his clinic, which served mostly low-income women in a largely black community. It is legal in Pennsylvania to abort a fetus only up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
Gosnell also was convicted of infanticide and conspiracy in the babies' deaths.
In addition, he was found guilty of 211 counts of failing to comply with a state law that requires for a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion is performed. Each of those 211 counts carries the possibility of up to one year in prison.
Not long after the proceedings ended, Gosnell was taken from the courthouse manacled and clad in a green prison uniform. He has been in jail since his arrest in January 2011.
The jury earlier in the day said it was deadlocked on two counts. But Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Minehart ordered the seven-woman, five-man panel back to resume deliberations.
The same jury will return to court next week to decide if Gosnell will face the death penalty on the three counts of first-degree murder on which he was convicted. Eight other defendants, including Gosnell's wife, Pearl, have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges.
Dr Kermit Gosnell, 72, who ran the now-shuttered Women's Medical Society Clinic, faces the possibility of the death penalty. The case focused on whether the infants were born alive and were then killed.
He was accused of delivering live babies during late-term abortions and then deliberately severing their spinal cords.
Gosnell, clad in a maroon shirt and a red tie, was stoic as the foreman read the verdicts.
The trial, which anti-abortion advocates had complained was being ignored by the media because of a bias in favor of abortion rights, was punctuated by graphic testimony.
The jury heard five weeks of testimony in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia and deliberated for 10 days.
Gosnell also was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the case of Karnamaya Mongar, 41, of Virginia, who died from a drug overdose after going to him for an abortion.
He was also found guilty of performing 21 abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy at his clinic, which served mostly low-income women in a largely black community. It is legal in Pennsylvania to abort a fetus only up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
Gosnell also was convicted of infanticide and conspiracy in the babies' deaths.
In addition, he was found guilty of 211 counts of failing to comply with a state law that requires for a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion is performed. Each of those 211 counts carries the possibility of up to one year in prison.
Not long after the proceedings ended, Gosnell was taken from the courthouse manacled and clad in a green prison uniform. He has been in jail since his arrest in January 2011.
The jury earlier in the day said it was deadlocked on two counts. But Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Minehart ordered the seven-woman, five-man panel back to resume deliberations.
The same jury will return to court next week to decide if Gosnell will face the death penalty on the three counts of first-degree murder on which he was convicted. Eight other defendants, including Gosnell's wife, Pearl, have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges.
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