Posted on 11/09/2007 5:25:54 PM PST by Graybeard58
WICHITA | An abortion protester who claims Dr. George Tiller intentionally hit him with his vehicle outside the clinic has sued the Wichita doctor in a small claims case that has attracted the attention of two court television programs.
Mark Gietzen, the director of Kansas Coalition for Life, is seeking $4,000 for his injuries for an April 2006 incident at the edge of the driveway into the Women’s Health Care Services. Two court television programs — Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown — have written Gietzen asking him to allow the case to be arbitrated on their shows.
Gietzen, who is proceeding as his own attorney in small claims court, conceded it would be unlikely that Tiller would agree to arbitration on the television court programs.
Tiller — who faces 19 misdemeanor criminal charges in a separate criminal case filed by Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison — has yet to personally appear for any of the pretrial hearings in the unrelated misdemeanor criminal case, leaving his defense to his attorneys.
Tiller’s defense attorney, Lee Thompson, said Friday he had not seen Gietzen’s filing.
“It isn’t even worth commenting on,” Thompson said. “Anything Mr. Gietzen does is not worth commenting on.”
A hearing on the case is set for Nov. 28.
Gietzen, an abortion opponent who has protested outside the Tiller clinic since 1978, said he filed the lawsuit to protect other abortion protesters who gather at the clinic daily.
“That is the only reason to go forward,” Gietzen said.
“He hit me with his vehicle intentionally — and it wasn’t like an accident,” Gietzen said.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
Should be video of this. I believe everybody films at these protests.
Note to self...don't stand in front of a motor vehicle headed my way.
The doctor should be charged with attempted murder.
No criminal charges were filed after police viewed clinic surveillance video of the incident.Tell me...how was the quality of the video. Can you clearly see the whole situation in it?
(I'm assuming you saw the video, since you're clearly second-guessing the police. I'm sure you wouldn't be making your comment on purely political grounds, making it seem like pro-lifers care more about their agenda than truth.)
One count of attempted murder and multiple counts of murdering the unborn.
“time to get out of Tiller’s way and did not do so in a timely manner”
Does this mean that I can run over anyone who doesn’t get out of my way in a”timely” manner? Police officers should have moved the protestors out of the way.
I guess the doctor could be forgiven for being confused and thinking he was just conducting a late term abortion...
Why not, our government forgives so much along these lines already.
D1
Killer Tiller mows down pro-lifer *ping*.
He should sue for a hundred million...the same amount a “clinic escort” would sue for if he/she/it was sneezed upon by one of those “filthy oppressors” of women who “stalk” the “brave providers” of “women’s health services”.
I wanted to include that in the article posted but it had to be excerpted. I included 10 paragraphs and left only 4 out. The part quoted above is very relevant and I should have posted in the comments urging people to read the rest.
No criminal charges and I trust the police judgement in that matter, they having more access to the facts than I do.
A civil jury may find otherwise, we'll see.
Anything he can do to Tiller is OK with me, but he needs a real lawyer to have a chance.
More about Tiller:
http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/354347.html
“Mark Gietzen, the director of Kansas Coalition for Life, is seeking $4,000 for his injuries”
Not exactly trying to get rich off of this is he?
The standards are different for a civil case, no?
As we saw in the O.J. case.
I don’t agree. Normally the police would make a reasonable decision on something like this, but when it comes to abortion, all the usual rules go out the window. It is a very politicized business.
For instance, police have repeatedly arrested peaceful protestors in public spaces, although invariably they are released and no charges are filed.
Tiller has a very lucrative business, and pays off the local politicians.
I would add that perhaps the protester had time to get out of the way, but that still doesn’t justify hitting him with the car in a driveway, where it would be perfectly easy to stop.
If he had time to get out of the way, the doctor also had time to swerve.
Are you a paparazzo who blocks cars to get pictures?
I imagine this was a very low-speed collision. Not sure it has to do with “swerving.” But I must imagine it, as I haven’t seen the video.
While pulling a policeman off his beat to arrest this guy might have been the thing to do, it really stinks that this protestor believes that the police should be spending their time on him rather than fighting other crimes. How about a better point of all this being, “protestors shouldn’t obstruct traffic”?
Not an excuse for criminal behavior, but neither should we excuse the protestor for his own idiocy. If he’s illegally blocking the traffic, then why should there be civil liabillity on the driver?
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