After deliberating for 10 days in the case of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, a jury has convicted him of three counts of 1st degree murder.
The jury, consisting of 7 women and 5 men, were considering a total of 263 charges against Gosnell. His most serious charges were the murders of four fetuses that were born alive, and he killed by severing their spinal cords with a pair of scissors. He was convicted of three of those fatalities. He was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the case of Karnamaya Mongar, who died from a drug overdose.
He will now enter the penalty stage of the trial, and faces a possible death penalty decision.
Gosnell ran the Women’s Medical Society for over 30 years. The abortion clinic was shut down by the FBI in 2010 when they raided the establishment which was dispersing an extremely high volume of painkilling prescriptions. During the raid, they discovered the occurrence of late-night abortions being performed in filthy conditions, and the existence of 47 fetuses kept in refrigerators.
The jury had informed Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart that they were stymied by two of the 263 issues. He ordered them to re-examine the evidence, and find a common verdict.
“The fact that you are stuck on two counts, shows you are considering the evidence seriously. It’s an indication of your sincerity and your objectivity,” Minehart said. “It’s a difficult case. We appreciate that.”
Gosnell, 72, originally face seven first degree murder charges, but Minehart dismissed three of them
James Turnage
The Guardian Express
