Wichita, KS – On this fourth day of a hearings on a motion to dismiss 19 criminal charges against late-term abortionist George Tiller, former Assistant Attorney General Steve Maxwell testified in court about his role in an investigation of abortion clinics during Phill Kline’s tenure as Attorney General. That investigation resulted in the procurement of abortion records from Tiller’s Women’s Health Care Services (WHCS). Evidence in those records was used by Kline’s successor, Paul Morrison as the basis for the current charges against Tiller.

Maxwell seemed to have left Monnat miffed after repeatedly correcting him about information in his questions that was innacurate or not factual.

Maxwell was questioned by Tiller’s attorney, Dan Monnat, about a subpoena served on the La Quinta Inn for records of travelers who may have been patients of WHCS. Tiller referred patients to the La Quinta Inn in Wichita because he had an arrangement with the hotel at that time for his patients to receive special discounts.

La Quinta Inns later terminated their business relationship with Tiller after Operation Rescue documented and reported to the hotel chain’s corporate headquarters that Tiller was using the hotel as an annex of his abortion clinic. Tiller had stabled abortion workers there overnight to monitor women during the labor, and sometimes delivery, of his patients’ dead babies, which had been killed by lethal injection to the heart at the beginning of the abortion procedure.

Maxwell testified that La Quinta Inn records were subpoenaed so that they could find the names of pregnant children under the age of 16 who may have been patients of WHCS so they could match the name of the child with the SRS records to see if child sexual abuse was being reported.

Maxwell indicated that he believes that no patient was ever identified through the records obtained from the La Quinta Inn.

Maxwell was questioned about the transfer of abortion records obtained from Tiller from the Attorney General’s office to the Johnson County District Attorney’s office, where Kline was moving as the new D.A. Maxwell testified that when he prepared the status report for Judge Anderson about the location of the abortion files, he did not know that the Tiller records were being transferred to the Johnson County D.A.’s office.

“In the end, whether or not Kline had a copy of the Tiller records is irrelevant to the current charges against Tiller,” said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger, who has been present during the entire hearing. “None of what we have heard so far has changed the fact that the Attorney General’s office found evidence that Tiller had committed 19 counts of illegal late-term abortions. The merits of those charges are not even a subject of these hearings, and deserve their day in court.”

The hearing has been continued until January 6, 7, and 8, 2009. At that time testimony is expected from former Attorney General Paul Morrison. Former Attorney General Phill Kline is also expected to complete his testimony that was interrupted due to scheduling conflicts.

Wichita, KS — Three witnesses took the stand on the third day of testimony in a hearing where late-term abortionist George R. Tiller is asking District Court Judge Clark Owens to dismiss 19 criminal charges against him based on “outrageous prosecutorial conduct.”

Investigator Tom Williams testified for the third straight day about his involvement in an investigation of Tiller that began under former Attorney General Phill Kline.

Williams was questioned about his interview with Dr. Ronald V. Erkin, a retired psychiatrist who reviewed ten abortion records that had been obtained by Kline through a subpoena with the permission of the Kansas Supreme Court.

Dr. Erkin told Williams that he believed that the diagnoses of mental health conditions used to justify the post-viability abortions were not irreversible conditions as required by law. However, he also told Williams that he did not believe that they had a case because of the way Tiller defined “irreversible” to apply only to the life of the pregnancy. Dr. Erkin said he believed that the definition of “irreversible” was a matter subject to debate.

Dr. Erkin did not want to be involved in the case because he had been retired for a number of years and did not consider himself current on the latest developments in the field. Kline’s office then sought the professional opinion of Dr. Paul McHugh who determined that Tiller’s diagnoses did not meet the standard required by law, and signed a statement to that effect.

In an affidavit supporting 30 criminal charges against Tiller, Williams referred to Dr. Erkin’s opinion that Tiller’s diagnoses were not substantial and irreversible conditions. Monnat tried to persuade the court that Williams engaged in deception and outrageous conduct when he did not include Erkin’s statements about the debate over the definition of “irreversible.”

Disney and Monnat sparred throughout the day. At one point, Disney rose to object to a question and Monnat lost control of his emotions and began angrily shouting in a tremendously loud voice over Disney’s objections. The outburst shocked courtroom observers.

Monnat found evil motives behind a decision to gain a search warrant for some of Tiller’s abortion records. The search warrant was issued by Judge Richard Anderson, who found the information supporting the request met the highest burden of proof. However, it was never executed, and was exchanged instead for a subpoena. Prosecutor Barry Disney objected to Monnat’s portrayal of the plan to execute the search warrant as “outrageous conduct,” especially since the conduct never took place.

“Monnat seems to process everything through a faulty filter of paranoia, which leads him to find evil motives behind every action of those who were investigating Tiller,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “His frequent inflammatory questioning was obviously meant to play to the media in the courtroom. Mr. Monnat needs to keep his day job because an Academy Award just is not in his future.”

Monnat found malevolent motives behind Kline’s application for an arrest warrant after Kline charged Tiller with 30 misdemeanors in December, 2006. An arrest of Tiller was never executed. He challenged Williams for seeking the identity of a 10-year old abortion patient from California, but Williams explained that because he could find no evidence that an abuse report had been filed, he needed to ascertain her identity to insure that she was safe, which he was able to do.

Monnat was also suspicious that Williams may have had contact with “anti-abortionists.” He asked Williams if he ever visited the Operation Rescue web site and if he ever interviewed OR representatives Troy Newman and Cheryl Sullenger or a number of other pro-life persons. Williams could not recall doing so.

Also testifying was an inexperienced former Kline employee Jared Reed, who feared rumors that former Attorney General Paul Morrison would arrest everyone involved in the Tiller investigation. He went to Morrison and asked for immunity in return for his statements about his discomfort with the Kline investigation, even though he admitted his own role in the matter was limited.

“It says a lot that no other person involved in the Tiller investigation sought immunity,” said Newman. “That means that no one really thought there was anything improper about what they were doing.”

Also testifying was Eric Rucker who worked with Kline in both his tenures as Attorney General and Johnson County District Attorney. Rucker testified that he remembered very little about specific meetings and e-mails that Monnat brought to his attention.

Thursday, witnesses could include Steven Maxwell, an attorney who worked for Kline during the Tiller investigation, and the long-awaited testimony of disgraced former Attorney General Paul Morrison, who resigned after his adulterous affair and attempts to impede abortion investigations became public.

The hearing is expected to be extended into next week. If Tiller’s motion to dismiss is denied, he is scheduled to stand trail on March 16, 2009.

Wichita, KS – The man who served as chief investigator under former Attorney General Phill Kline resumed testimony today in a hearing considering whether or not 19 criminal charges against late-term abortionist George Tiller should go forward.

While much of the day’s questioning was mundane, attention of the courtroom observers was abruptly piqued when Monnat’s line of questioning turned to William’s knowledge of an adulterous affair between former Attorney General Paul Morrison and his employee, Linda Carter, while he was the District Attorney of Johnson County.

According to a news article that appeared in the Topeka Capital Journal on December 9, 2007, Carter and Morrison allegedly quarreled in March, 2007, over Morrison’s reluctance to charge Tiller. Morrison finally filed 19 misdemeanor charges against Tiller on June 28, 2007. Those charges are the subject of the current court proceedings.

Williams testified that he became aware of the illicit affair during a meeting attended by a number of members of the Johnson County District Attorney’s office.

Former Attorney General Phill Kline became Johnson County District Attorney on January 8, 2007, replacing Paul Morrison in that office after Morrison defeated Kline for Attorney General.

Williams testified that he interviewed Carter at a private residence that resulted in the production of a statement signed by Carter. About a week later, Williams took Carter’s deposition in the presence of her attorney at a hotel conference room. However, he also told the court that he retained no copies of any of those documents.

Tiller’s defense immediately asked for a renewal of a subpoena for those documents from Special Prosecutor Timothy Keck, who is responsible for an ongoing investigation of possible criminal conduct against Morrison, including allegations that he tried to use Carter to “spy” on Kline’s abortion investigations for the purpose of impeding those investigations. Tiller’s defense had previously requested a subpoena for the documents in Keck’s possession, but the subpoena was quashed because producing the document could impede Keck’s criminal investigation. Judge Clark Owens indicated that he will rule on that request in the morning when Williams is scheduled to resume testimony.

Prosecutor Barry Disney of the Attorney General’s office objected to the Carter statements being introduced because Carter has not been subpoenaed for cross examination, making the statements hearsay and inadmissible. Disney invited Monnat to subpoena Carter, but apparently efforts to locate Carter have been unsuccessful.

Earlier in the day, Tom Williams testified about other matters. He said that he conducted an investigation into the non-reporting of child sex abuse in Kansas under Kline’s direction. He was questioned, sometimes in an argumentative way, by Tiller’s attorney Dan Monnat. Williams’ part in the documents that launched the official inquisition approved by Shawnee County District Judge Richard Anderson was closely examined, along with the scope of the investigation, which included Tiller.

Williams has been on the stand since Monday afternoon. Deputy Johnson County District Attorney Eric Rucker is scheduled to take the stand once Williams has completed his testimony.

Operation Rescue representatives have been in the court room for the entire hearing and will continue to monitor the proceedings until their conclusion.

“Tiller is trying to show that the prosecutors engaged in outrageous prosecutorial misconduct in pursuing charges against Tiller. But what we must remember is that Tiller is the one charged with crimes, not the prosecutors,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “The true outrage is that Tiller, who we are convinced kills innocent viable babies contrary to the laws of Kansas, has the gall to accuse decent men and women of improper conduct when they have done nothing be try to enforce the laws in order to protect the innocent. We continue to pray this prosecution will be successful and that Tiller will finally be brought to justice.”

Wichita, KS – Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline took the stand today to answer questions about his investigation of late-term abortionist George R. Tiller while Kline served as the Kansas Attorney General.

Kline was subpoenaed by attorneys representing Tiller in a motion to suppress the evidence against their client. Tiller faces 19 counts of illegal post-viability abortions, which were done without the signature of an unaffiliated second physician.

Kline answered all questions from Tiller’s attorney, Dan Monnat, with grace and humor, which was often lost on the dour Monnat. The questioning attempted to force Kline to admit than an opinion he issued as Attorney General concerning the mandatory child abuse reporting law was used as a tool to launch a selective political investigation of Tiller.

However, Kline told the court that the opinion was just that, an opinion and not an investigatory tool. He explained that he had reason to believe that Tiller was violating the laws of Kansas and that he based that belief on information that did not merely include a quote in the Kansas City Star, as Tiller’s attorneys tried to infer.

Kline’s testimony was interrupted due to a scheduling conflict. Kline has been asked to resume his testimony on Friday at 1:30 PM.

In the afternoon, Tom Williams, an investigator for Kline for the past five years, took the stand to answer questions about his investigation of child sex abuse in Kansas, which ultimately led to an investigation of Tiller.

Monnat tried to persuade Williams to confess that he lied to obtain information from state agencies. However, Williams explained that to divulge everything he knew to people he was questioning would have endangered the investigation. Williams categorically denied lying to obtain information.

Monnat and Prosecutor Barry Disney lit the courtroom with occasional fireworks in heated exchanges concerning Monnat’s plodding and often improper questioning.

Monnat seemed unwilling or unable to control himself to act within the rules, continually asking leading questions which he had been warned not to do thorough out the day.

“Monnat was trying swat a fly with a sledgehammer – and missed badly,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “There is no doubt that Tiller’s attorneys have a warped view of reality, taking widely accepted investigatory techniques and finding in them some vast, sinister conspiracy. This hearing has devolved into little more than a witch hunt.”

During the entire day pro-life missionary Ronald Brock testified outside of the courthouse with his motor home calling for Tiller to be brought to trial. If Tiller’s motion fails, he is scheduled to e tried for his crimes on March 16, 2009.

The hearing will resume Tuesday morning at 9:00 AM when Tom Williams will resume his testimony.

View additional photos
UPDATE! View photos from inside the courtroom courtesy of the Wichita Eagle

Wichita, KS – Two pro-life volunteers participating in a round the clock prayer vigil were sickened last week, after being exposed to fumes from an oily substance that had been spilled across the driveway at George Tiller’s late-term abortion clinic, Women’s Health Care Services in Wichita.

One of the pro-lifers, Jennifer McCoy, was treated for four hours at a local hospital emergency room suffering from vomiting, diarrhea, and swelling of the face and eyes. Another woman, Brandi Lozier, was with McCoy praying outside the abortion clinic in the early morning hours of Sunday, November 2, 2008, as part of the 40 Days For Life event. She suffered similar symptoms, but was not hospitalized.

After numerous tests, doctors told McCoy that her symptoms were the result of exposure to a foreign substance, and were not related to any viral or bacterial infection.

Hazmat was called to the abortion clinic and treated the area with a kitty-litter type of substance in order to absorb the noxious oily spill.

After being released from the hospital, McCoy filed a complaint with the Wichita Police Department, but, a week and a half later, arrest and prosecution of the unknown perpetrator seems unlikely.

“We suspect that this chemical attack may have been in retribution for Jennifer’s help in documenting a botched abortion at Tiller’s clinic a few weeks ago,” said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger.

McCoy had interviewed Patient S. from her hospital bed after she nearly died from a botched abortion at Women’s Health Care Services. McCoy also helped Patient S. get additional medical treatment for her abortion complications after it became obvious that neither Tiller nor the hospital where she had been taken by Tiller did not properly treat her.

This was not the first of such attacks on pro-lifers who minister outside Tiller abortion mill. In September, 2007, Tiller’s security guard, John Rayburn, was photographed with a “stink bomb” that also sickened those on the scene. Prosecutors refused to file charges, and efforts to hold Tiller accountable in small claims court failed.

“We know whoever is responsible for endangering the health of these innocent women will only continue to be emboldened by a lack of prosecution,” said Sullenger. “The only way to stop these cowardly attacks on pro-lifers is to catch the perpetrators and put them in jail.”

Wichita, KS — Operation Rescue announces plans for a prayer response to a week-long hearing in George Tiller’s criminal case scheduled to begin on Monday, November 17, 2008.

Tiller faces 19 criminal misdemeanor charges filed by the Attorney General’s office for committing illegal late-term abortions by failing to obtain a concurring signature from a second physician who was not legally or financially affiliated with him. Instead, Tiller used an affiliated associate, abortionist Ann Kristin Neuhaus, in each case.

The hearing will focus on Tiller’s request that the court to suppress the evidence of Tiller’s criminal conduct that is found in the 19 abortion records that the case is based upon, and dismiss the case. Testimony is expected from former Attorneys General Phill Kline, Paul Morrison, and others involved in the Tiller investigation. If Tiller’s motions fail, he is scheduled to face trial on March 16, 2009.

Operation Rescue will lead a brief prayer every morning outside the Sedgwick County Courthouse (map) at 8:30 AM on each day of the hearing beginning on November 17.

Representatives of OR will attend the hearing and will report on the progress each day at www.operationrescue.org. Troy Newman and Cheryl Sullenger will be available for comment in the media.

OR’s National Headquarters, located at 3013 E. Central Ave. in Wichita, (map), will be open throughout the business day each day of the hearings and Christians are encouraged to gather there to pray for justice as their schedules permit. Refreshments and the latest court updates will be provided there.

Participants are also encouraged to dedicate extra time in prayer and outreach at Tiller’s late-term abortion clinic, located at 5107 E. Kellogg Ave. in Wichita, (map), which is scheduled to be open as usual during the week of the court hearings.

Other activities may be announced as the need arises.

“We have been waiting for a very long time for Tiller to have his day in court, and our best response to Tiller’s latest attempts to thwart justice is to pray,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “We intend to keep our focus on prayer throughout the hearings, but given the corruption that has shielded Tiller from prosecution in the past, we will keep a close eye on the proceedings, and respond to the developments as appropriate.”

[Note: Jared Reed was misidentified in an earlier version of this story as being in the Attorney General's office. He was actually an investigator under Kline. We apologize for the error. -OR Staff]

Wichita, KS – Late-term abortionist George R. Tiller is scheduled to appear in court on November 17 for a week-long hearing of his motion to suppress evidence and dismiss 19 criminal charges of illegal late-term abortions brought against him last year by former Attorney General Paul Morrison.

Those already subpoenaed by Tiller’s defense include seven high-profile figures, some of which have dominated headlines over the course of the last five years that Tiller has been under investigation.

According to court records, subpoenas have been issued to the following people:

Former Attorney General Phill Kline, who originally was granted access to approximately 90 heavily redacted abortion records from Tiller and Planned Parenthood after a three-year battle in the Kansas Supreme Court.

Former Attorney General Paul Morrison, who, after review of the abortion records left by Kline’s investigation, filed 19 criminal charges against Tiller that are now the subject of the current action. Morrison resigned in disgrace after a sex and abortion corruption scandal surfaced.

Judge Richard Anderson, the District Court judge who oversaw the redaction of the abortion records under the rules of the Kansas Supreme Court. He also found probable cause to believe that Tiller had committed 30 other crimes filed by Kline, which were later dismissed at the request of Tiller’s friend, District Attorney Nola Foulston, on dubious jurisdictional grounds without being considered on their merits. Judge Anderson is resisting the Tiller subpoena and has filed his own motion to quash it and has requested a protective order.

Thomas D. Williams, a special investigator in the Kline administration.

Eric Rucker and Stephen Maxwell, Assistant Attorneys General under Kline who participated in the Tiller investigation.

Jared Reed, one of the investigators in Kline’s office who worked under Thomas Williams. (corrected)

The court has reserved the entire week for the lengthy hearing where Tiller’s attorneys will ask for the evidence of Tiller’s criminal conduct contained in the abortion records to be suppressed and the case to be dismissed. If Tiller’s motions fail, he faces trial on March 16, 2009.

Operation Rescue plans to monitor the hearings and will announce specific plans tomorrow, Tuesday, November 11, for series of prayer and prophetic outreaches in conjunction with next week’s hearing.

Hialeah, FL – In the wake of her long-anticipated funeral, inflammatory comments by President-elect Barack Obama have renewed calls for charges to be filed in the death of Baby Shanice Denise Osbourne, who was born alive after a failed abortion at a Hialeah, Florida, abortion clinic, shoved into a plastic bag, and tossed on the roof of the abortion building to die in July, 2006.

Rev. O’Neal Dozier, of the World Wide Christian Center where Baby Shanice’s funeral took place last month, used the opportunity to expose Obama for opposing legislation in Illinois that would have provided protection for babies like Shanice.

In startling response to the media, an Obama spokesperson accused Rev. Dozier of engaging in “the most disgusting and manipulative kind of hate politics around.”

“In trying to defend the indefensible, all Obama and his henchmen can do is demonize those who are telling the truth about his voting record,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “No smear tactic can erase the fact that Obama clearly voted to deny protections for babies like Shanice. In spite of opposition from Obama, there are clear laws protecting live babies from being murdered in cold blood.”

The Obama camp’s inflammatory remarks only served to call attention to the lack of enforcement of laws that are designed to protect babies who die during failed abortions, and have renewed demands for prosecutors to end the delay in charging unlicensed abortion worker Belkis Gonzalez with Baby Shanice’s murder.

It was Gonzalez, according to a clinic worker who secretly reported the incident to the police, who cut the baby’s umbilical cord and, while the little girl was still moving as gasping for air, swept her into a biohazard bag filled with chemicals, and tossed her on the roof of the abortion clinic in order to conceal her body from discovery. Police later recovered Baby Shanice’s body and an autopsy proved that Shanice’s lungs had breathed air.

After over two years of prosecutorial stalling, Operation Rescue is renewing its demand that authorities arrest and charge Gonzalez.

“In the interest of justice, we need an immediate arrest and prosecution of those responsible for this innocent baby’s murder,” said Newman. “We urge the public to contact the local prosecutor and demand that this case to move forward.”

Contact:
Prosecutor David Waksman
(305) 547-0430

WATCH VIDEO featuring news clips from Baby Shanice’s funeral and the Obama reaction. (4 min. 13 sec.)

“Even before the last votes were counted, we received this threat. It is an indication that the abortion forces are feeling emboldened and are thinking that, under an Obama administration, they will be able to harm pro-lifers and get away with it,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “When people like this devalue the lives of the pre-born, it is only natural that they would devalue and even despise the lives of others as well.”

The threat indicated that any act of “anti-abortion terror” would be “ANSWERED IN KIND BY PRO-CHOICE COUNTERTERRORISTS, who will mount violent attacks against right-to-lifers.” [Emphasis theirs.] The threat was issued by someone identifying himself as “SoMG” with the IP address of 207.237.113.33.

“It’s hard to know that is meant by ‘anti-abortion terror,’” said Newman. “We have seen abortion clinic employees describe two grandmothers quietly praying on the sidewalk outside abortion clinic as ‘anti-abortion terrorism.’ In any case, Operation Rescue has a strong and undeniable history of peaceful pro-life activism, which we will proudly continue even in the face of pro-abortion bullying and intimidation.

“We are not new to these kinds of threats, and will not succumb to any attempts at intimidation, because the lives of innocent babies hang in the balance every day. We encourage pro-lifers around the nation to stand firm for the cause of life, especially in the face of impending adversity in a potentially hostile political environment. God is our Protector and we must trust in Him.”