[h=2]The West Philadelphia doctor was tried both for 4 baby deaths and the overdose death of patient Karnamaya Mongar, who died at the Women’s Medical Society under his care. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of three of four babies. At the clinic, confessed workers, they even 'snipped' the spines of living babies to kill them.[/h]
A jury has found Dr. Kermit Gosnell guilty in the murder of three babies at his West Philadelphia “house of horrors” abortion clinic.
He was found not guilty in the death of a fourth baby.
Eight people who worked at Gosnell’s clinic, which catered to a largely poor and immigrant clientele, pleaded guilty to a variety of charges and testified against the doctor. Four other employees, who said they “snipped” the spines of babies born at the clinic, have also pleaded guilty to murder.
“Are you human?” prosecutor Ed Cameron said during closing arguments as Gosnell sat at the defense table. “To med these women up and stick knives in the backs of babies?”
The death penalty is now an option in the sentencing phase for the disgraced doctor's three first-degree murder convictions.
In addition to being charged with the killings of the four infants, Gosnell, 72, was tried for his role in the 2009 overdose death of patient Karnamaya Mongar, who died undergoing an abortion at the Women’s Medical Society while under Gosnell’s care. The jury acquitted Gosnell for the third-degree murder of Mongar but found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death.
The gruesome details of Gosnell’s trial galvanized pro-life groups, and stunned many pro-choice advocates.
Gosnell’s lawyers argued during trial that none of the babies involved in the case were born alive, but testimony from former employees contradicted that claim. Abortion in Pennsylvania is illegal after a fetus reaches 24 weeks old.
One assistant testified that “Baby A”, whom the jury convicted Gosnell of murdering, was about 30 weeks old when aborted — big enough, she said, that Gosnell joked it could have walked to the bus.
The murder charges were just several of the more than 250 charges Gosnell faced during the two month-long trial. Gosnell was convicted on more than 200 of those crimes, which stemmed from violations of Pennsylvania’s abortion laws by performing late-term abortions and failing to counsel women 24 hours in advance of the procedure.
Gosnell faces more charges contending he ran a “pill mill” from his dirty “house of horrors” clinic. He reportedly ranked third in the state in prescribing OxyContin and allegedly allowed assistances to write prescriptions to cash-paying clients. All told, he reportedly made about $1.8 million each year, much of it in cash. He spent more than 30 years as an abortion doctor, performing thousands of the procedures during that time.
When his home was raided following a 2010 investigation, authorities found more than $250,000 in cash hidden in a bedroom.
The jury will return May 21 for the sentencing phase, when they will decide whether Gosnell should get the death penalty.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/abortion-doctor-found-tk-murder-article-1.1342672
A jury has found Dr. Kermit Gosnell guilty in the murder of three babies at his West Philadelphia “house of horrors” abortion clinic.
He was found not guilty in the death of a fourth baby.
Eight people who worked at Gosnell’s clinic, which catered to a largely poor and immigrant clientele, pleaded guilty to a variety of charges and testified against the doctor. Four other employees, who said they “snipped” the spines of babies born at the clinic, have also pleaded guilty to murder.
“Are you human?” prosecutor Ed Cameron said during closing arguments as Gosnell sat at the defense table. “To med these women up and stick knives in the backs of babies?”
The death penalty is now an option in the sentencing phase for the disgraced doctor's three first-degree murder convictions.
In addition to being charged with the killings of the four infants, Gosnell, 72, was tried for his role in the 2009 overdose death of patient Karnamaya Mongar, who died undergoing an abortion at the Women’s Medical Society while under Gosnell’s care. The jury acquitted Gosnell for the third-degree murder of Mongar but found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death.
The gruesome details of Gosnell’s trial galvanized pro-life groups, and stunned many pro-choice advocates.
Gosnell’s lawyers argued during trial that none of the babies involved in the case were born alive, but testimony from former employees contradicted that claim. Abortion in Pennsylvania is illegal after a fetus reaches 24 weeks old.
One assistant testified that “Baby A”, whom the jury convicted Gosnell of murdering, was about 30 weeks old when aborted — big enough, she said, that Gosnell joked it could have walked to the bus.
The murder charges were just several of the more than 250 charges Gosnell faced during the two month-long trial. Gosnell was convicted on more than 200 of those crimes, which stemmed from violations of Pennsylvania’s abortion laws by performing late-term abortions and failing to counsel women 24 hours in advance of the procedure.
Gosnell faces more charges contending he ran a “pill mill” from his dirty “house of horrors” clinic. He reportedly ranked third in the state in prescribing OxyContin and allegedly allowed assistances to write prescriptions to cash-paying clients. All told, he reportedly made about $1.8 million each year, much of it in cash. He spent more than 30 years as an abortion doctor, performing thousands of the procedures during that time.
When his home was raided following a 2010 investigation, authorities found more than $250,000 in cash hidden in a bedroom.
The jury will return May 21 for the sentencing phase, when they will decide whether Gosnell should get the death penalty.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/abortion-doctor-found-tk-murder-article-1.1342672
