A Sedgwick County judge is scheduled to hear arguments on whether Scott Roeder, the man who confessed to reporters that he killed Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, can present evidence claiming he used force in defense of another.
The Wichita Eagle reports that Judge Warren Wilbert has scheduled a January 8 hearing to take up the matter.
Last week, Wilbert ruled that Roeder cannot use the so-called "necessity defense," arguing killing Tiller
was justified to save fetuses that would have been aborted.
Doing so left open the possibility of Roeder's defense offering evidence
and arguments that Roeder killed Tiller because he thought he was "saving the lives of the unborn." This paves the way for
Roeder's public defenders to ask jurors to consider lesser crimes than
first-degree premeditated murder. Like voluntary manslaughter.
Jury selection for Roeder's trial is scheduled for
January 11, 2010, and expected to last a week. Roeder's actual trial is
likely to begin January 19 and last two weeks.
Comments (0)