Wichita, KS – Closing arguments in the criminal case against late-term abortionist George R. Tiller have concluded and the case has been sent to the jury.

Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney made the case that, based even on Tiller’s notes and on his own words, that he and abortionist Ann Kristin Neuhaus were financially affiliated. He pointed to evidence and testimony that Tiller consulted on Neuhaus’ fee and approved the final amount. Disney reminded the jury that on several occasions, Tiller referred to Neuhaus’ consulting as being a relationship where she worked for him, and talked about her joining his organization.

Attorneys for Tiller, Dan Monnat and Lee Thompson, tried to minimize Tiller’s characterizations as “slips of the tongue.” They accused Disney of engaging in a political prosecution.

Since the jury was given jury instructions prior to the closing arguments, they were sent to the jury room immediately after the attorneys concluded their arguments to begin their deliberations.

“We are at the final stage of these proceedings. Now is the time to pray for justice like never before,” said Operation Rescue president Troy Newman.

Tiller has been charged with doing illegal late-term abortions because he used Neuhaus for his second physician referral even though they were financially affiliated, something the law specifically does not allow. If convicted Tiller faces 1 year in jail and $2,500 in fines for each of the 19 counts.

Operation Rescue will be notified by court security when the verdict has been reached and plans to be in the courtroom when the verdict is read.

Wichita, KS – The defense rested in the criminal trial of late-term abortionist George Tiller today. Judge Clark Owens sent the jury home for the day while attorneys for both sides worked in chambers to hammer out the jury instructions that will be presented to the panel of six tomorrow after closing arguments.

Concluding her testimony today was former Tiller attorney Rachel Pirner, whose demeanor under the questioning of Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney was argumentative, and at times obnoxious. Pirner did testify, however, that while the Kansas Board of Healing Arts issued a clarification on the second physician rule, indicating that the second physician had to be a “Kansas” physician, it never issued any ruling or clarification regarding the prohibition on their financial and legal affiliation.

Disney revealed that the Board has filed a “complaint” against Tiller alleging that Tiller had an improper affiliation with Neuhaus. Pirner denied knowledge of that action. She no longer represents Tiller.

After the jury was dismissed, Defense Attorney Lee Thompson made another request for dismissal of the case. Judge Owens indicated that he believed, on legal grounds, that this case must go to the jury on the legal theory that Tiller and Neuhaus were financially affiliated.

“We are calling on all men and women of faith to fervently pray for the next 30 hours that justice will be done,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

Prayer vigils will be held this evening, Thursday, March 26, 2009, at Living Word Outreach, located at 3033 S. Hillside in Wichita. There will also be prayer beginning at 8 AM Friday morning at the Sedgwick County Courthouse.

Court resumes on Friday at 9 AM.

Unguarded testimony reveals Tiller viewed Neuhaus as a member of his organization.

Wichita, KS – Accused late-term abortionist George Tiller took the stand in his own defense today and testified about his relationship to fellow abortionist Ann Kristin Neuhaus. Tiller is charged with having committed 19 post-viability abortions using Neuhaus even though she was illegally affiliated with him.

Tiller testified that in 1999 the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts began to require that the second referral for post-viability abortions come from a Kansas physician, so that the Board would have jurisdiction over that physician should discipline ever become necessary. He considered challenging the constitutionality of the law in Federal Court.

Tiller testified that on July 21, 1999, he received a call from Larry Buening, who was the Executive Director of the KSBHA at that time. Tiller said that Buening told him, “Why don’t you use Kris Neuhaus and that will take care of all of your problems.”

Tiller admitted that Buening told him not to quote him because he would deny the conversation. The only evidence that the conversation took place was a few scribbled notes in Tiller’s organizational calendar. His notes indicated that Neuhaus as glad to do the consultations because she needed the money, something Neuhaus denied during her testimony.

Tiller’s testimony under the questioning of his attorney, Dan Monnat, seemed well rehearsed and even memorized. But under cross examination by Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney, Tiller appeared to have some difficulty processing the questions and giving extemporaneous responses.

During Disney’s questioning, Tiller first indicated that he relied on what Buening told him as a representative of the KSBHA regarding the second physician law. However he later admitted that he did not exclusively rely on Buening’s word in that 1999 conversation. In fact, after the conversation, he told the court he still had questions about the non-affiliation language in the law and continued to consult with his attorneys about it for several more months. He filtered everything through his attorneys and ultimately relied solely on their advice.

In Kansas, claiming innocence because one relied upon consultations with an attorney is not a valid defense against criminal charges.

Tiller admitted that his relationship with Neuhaus evolved from 1999 when she first began to consult at his clinic, to 2003, the year that is the subject of the criminal charges.

At one point, Tiller began to refer to his relationship with Neuhaus saying, “When she was working for me,“ but quickly issued a correction stating, “when she was providing consultations for patients.”

“I think the first statement was truer than the rehearsed correction,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “In an unguarded moment, he revealed the way he normally considered her relationship to him.”

Another dramatic moment regarding how Tiller actually viewed his affiliation with Neuhaus came when he discussed how long it took to make arrangements for Neuhaus to begin consulting for him.

“When someone new was going to join your organization, it would take time [to set up],” he said.

Tiller testified that he approved the amount of Neuhaus’ consulting fee. She charged $250-300 per consultation.

Tiller admitted that he profited financially by Neuhaus consulting with his patients. He estimated that he did 250-300 post-viability abortions in 2003 at an average cost of $6,000. He said that without Neuhaus’ help, he would not have been able to do those abortions.

He told the court that his overhead is 62% of the fees generated by his clinic. His salary is 38% of the gross income of his clinic. Tiller never said how much money he made from abortions prior to viability.

“Doing the math, Tiller personally made at least $684,000 killing viable babies in 2003, and we don’t know how much he made killing non-viable babies,” said Newman. “But we do know it would be a huge blow to the Tiller income if he were unable to do the late-term abortions for lack of a second Kansas referring physician.”

After Disney’s questioning, Tiller’s attorneys got him off the stand as quickly as possible.

Also testifying were JoAn Armentrout, Tiller’s Administrative Director who was his bookkeeper in 2003, and Rachel Pirner, an attorney who advised Tiller on compliance with the law. Pirner is scheduled to continue testimony on Thursday.

Present in the courtroom was Lou Engle and his wife, who spent most of the time in prayer during Tiller’s testimony. Engle is a national leader in the faith community and is founder of The Call.

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