Posted on 04/23/2013 4:02:04 PM PDT by markomalley
A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday threw out three of seven murder charges against a Philadelphia doctor charged with killing viable fetuses while performing abortions.
The judge, Jeffrey P. Minehart of the Court of Common Pleas here, granted motions for acquittal of the charges against the physician, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who ran the Women’s Medical Center, a West Philadelphia abortion clinic.
Judge Minehart also granted a motion for acquittal in five charges of abuse of a corpse against Dr. Gosnell, who, according to prosecutors, killed fetuses that were alive after they were aborted by plunging scissors into their necks. Dr. Gosnell, 72, was also acquitted on one charge of infanticide.
The judge gave no reason for his decision, which came on the fifth week of the trial and preceded the start of defense arguments, which had been scheduled to begin on Tuesday afternoon but are now expected to start Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
God will not be saving this country
By the process of elimination you have a jury of people who have all affirmed that they don’t think killing babies in the womb is wrong. The judge has already decided half the case for them. They will probably follow his lead and Gosnell will walk.
I can only imagine the jury instructions this judge will give. He has already determined that a kicking and screaming fetus that is outside the womb is not necessarily “alive”.
as someone pointed out, anyone who expressed pro-life views was kept off the jury.
What’s left?
Like it or not, abortion is legal. You can’t take jurors that openly state that they think it is wrong....because those jurors will find him guilty.
Yes, it’s messed up, but that’s how it works.
Depending on the prosecutor, this could automatically kick the case to a higher court on those charges, separately from other charges and force a ruling on when life begins.
Just because something is legal does not disqualify people because they don’t agree with that.
Do they keep teatotallers off DUI trial juries?
bump
but some of those prosecutors may be leftists too and let this guy walk
Is that rule written into the Constitution?
because those jurors will find him guilty.
He is guilty.
He murdered hundreds if not thousands of innocent babies. Anyone who can't recognize that abortion is wrong is a psychopath. The judge in this case is obviously as sick and twisted as Gosnell. He thinks that kicking and screaming babies are not alive or worthy of life.
I guess non-drinkers and non-drivers can’t be on DUI juries
If you picked all jurors that are pro-life, the man is doomed from the get go. Regardless of testimony and evidence.
Because as you said “He is guilty”. I agree. But unfortunately, he has the right to due process.
they keep saying this trial is not about abortion, but yet they know they are lying when they do things like this.
His “due process” means engineering a jury who is going to let him walk?
All of the evidence that I’ve heard makes him guilty.
We all know he is an abortionist.
He killed babies that survived the first attempt at murder.
I cannot explain my outrage and disgust for this man in words.
The source just said they asked the questions, if you answered pro-choice were you allowed on the jury? If so, then yes, it’s jury engineering.
I was commenting that the jury should be filled with people that have never given it much thought. So they aren’t biased either way. That way, they can focus on the charges, regardless of how they feel about abortion.
Due process does not guarantee you a jury of people who think that killing children is not wrong. By eliminating all pro life jurors you now have a jury of people who are immune from recognizing murder. He was not on trial for doing legal abortions. He was on trial for murdering babies who survived his abortions.
It was absolutely wrong to dismiss any juror who opposed abortion because he was not on trial for doing abortions. The judge should have required the defense to use up their pre-empts if they didn’t want pro lifers on the jury.
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