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Kermit Gosnell could face death penalty
PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -
A Philadelphia jury has found abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell guilty of three of four counts of first-degree murder involving infants who died at his clinic.
Gosnell, 72, was accused of killing babies by using scissors to cut their spinal cords. Authorities alleged that some of the infants were born alive and viable during the sixth, seventh and eighth months of pregnancy.
Monday's first-degree murder conviction means Gosnell, who is not a board-certified obstetrician or gynecologist, could be sentenced to death.
Defense attorney Jack McMahon said he respected the jury's efforts in the lengthy, high-profile trial.
"We had a chance to put out our issues, and a jury has spoken, and we respect that verdict," he told reporters outside the courthouse. "It was a lot of hard work on both sides."
Gosnell also was accused in the death of Karnamaya Mongar, 41, who died of an anesthetic overdose during a second-trimester abortion at his West Philadelphia clinic. In that case, the jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Gosnell was also found guilty of 21 counts of abortion of the unborn, 24 weeks or older.
In Pennsylvania, abortions past 24 weeks are illegal unless the health of the mother is at stake.
The case next moves to the penalty phase, when jurors will weigh whether to give Gosnell a death sentence. It's possible the doctor will testify, said William Brennan, an attorney who represented Gosnell earlier in the case.
"I would think there would be a lot of mitigation in this case and I think probably, and this is a guess, but probably at that time the jury would hear from Dr. Gosnell," he said.
Earlier Monday, the jury, after deliberating for two weeks, said it was hung on two counts, and the judge instructed them to continue trying to reach a verdict on them.
Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart also told jurors that their progress showed they were "considering the evidence seriously."
Gosnell's co-defendant, Eileen O'Neill, 56, was found guilty of conspiracy to operate a corrupt organization and two counts of theft by deception for operating without a license to practice medicine. O'Neill, a medical school graduate, is not charged with performing illegal abortions.
Both pleaded not guilty.
Eight people involved in Gosnell's clinic, called the Women's Medical Society, have pleaded guilty to various charges, including four to murder.
The grand jury report from 2011 says the "people who ran this sham medical practice included no doctors other than Gosnell himself, and not even a single nurse," yet they still made diagnoses, performed procedures and administered drugs.
McMahon, in an impassioned, 2½-hour closing argument, said that none of the infants was killed; rather, he said, they were already dead as a result of Gosnell administering the drug Digoxin, which can cause abortion.
Gosnell also was accused of reusing unsanitary instruments; performing procedures in filthy rooms, including some in which litter boxes and animals allegedly were present at the time; and allowing unlicensed employees -- including a teenage high school student -- to perform operations and administer anesthesia.
The remains of aborted fetuses were stored in water jugs, pet food containers and a freezer at the clinic, the city's chief medical examiner Sam Gulino testified.
Former employee Kareema Cross said Gosnell regularly performed illegal late-term abortions that he routinely recorded as "24.5 weeks." In Pennsylvania, abortions past 24 weeks are illegal unless the health of the mother is at stake.
Jury: Pa. abortion doctor guilty of first-degree murder | News - Home
PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -
A Philadelphia jury has found abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell guilty of three of four counts of first-degree murder involving infants who died at his clinic.
Gosnell, 72, was accused of killing babies by using scissors to cut their spinal cords. Authorities alleged that some of the infants were born alive and viable during the sixth, seventh and eighth months of pregnancy.
Monday's first-degree murder conviction means Gosnell, who is not a board-certified obstetrician or gynecologist, could be sentenced to death.
Defense attorney Jack McMahon said he respected the jury's efforts in the lengthy, high-profile trial.
"We had a chance to put out our issues, and a jury has spoken, and we respect that verdict," he told reporters outside the courthouse. "It was a lot of hard work on both sides."
Gosnell also was accused in the death of Karnamaya Mongar, 41, who died of an anesthetic overdose during a second-trimester abortion at his West Philadelphia clinic. In that case, the jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Gosnell was also found guilty of 21 counts of abortion of the unborn, 24 weeks or older.
In Pennsylvania, abortions past 24 weeks are illegal unless the health of the mother is at stake.
The case next moves to the penalty phase, when jurors will weigh whether to give Gosnell a death sentence. It's possible the doctor will testify, said William Brennan, an attorney who represented Gosnell earlier in the case.
"I would think there would be a lot of mitigation in this case and I think probably, and this is a guess, but probably at that time the jury would hear from Dr. Gosnell," he said.
Earlier Monday, the jury, after deliberating for two weeks, said it was hung on two counts, and the judge instructed them to continue trying to reach a verdict on them.
Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart also told jurors that their progress showed they were "considering the evidence seriously."
Gosnell's co-defendant, Eileen O'Neill, 56, was found guilty of conspiracy to operate a corrupt organization and two counts of theft by deception for operating without a license to practice medicine. O'Neill, a medical school graduate, is not charged with performing illegal abortions.
Both pleaded not guilty.
Eight people involved in Gosnell's clinic, called the Women's Medical Society, have pleaded guilty to various charges, including four to murder.
The grand jury report from 2011 says the "people who ran this sham medical practice included no doctors other than Gosnell himself, and not even a single nurse," yet they still made diagnoses, performed procedures and administered drugs.
McMahon, in an impassioned, 2½-hour closing argument, said that none of the infants was killed; rather, he said, they were already dead as a result of Gosnell administering the drug Digoxin, which can cause abortion.
Gosnell also was accused of reusing unsanitary instruments; performing procedures in filthy rooms, including some in which litter boxes and animals allegedly were present at the time; and allowing unlicensed employees -- including a teenage high school student -- to perform operations and administer anesthesia.
The remains of aborted fetuses were stored in water jugs, pet food containers and a freezer at the clinic, the city's chief medical examiner Sam Gulino testified.
Former employee Kareema Cross said Gosnell regularly performed illegal late-term abortions that he routinely recorded as "24.5 weeks." In Pennsylvania, abortions past 24 weeks are illegal unless the health of the mother is at stake.
Jury: Pa. abortion doctor guilty of first-degree murder | News - Home
