If the defense could have found testimony from an unborn child who admitted to telling Roeder to kill Tiller, well, imagine the implications.
The jury made the right call. He admitted to killing somebody who was providing a perfectly legal medical service. In cold blood.
If Roeder wanted to do this because of his 'religious beliefs,' fine. Now he can suffer the consequences.
Never compromise.
Following Roeder's logic, shouldn't anyone then have been legally able to kill anti-abortion protesters on sight, out of fear that they might decide to kill abortion providers? What a fuckwad. Whether they believe it or not, the folks who advocate for killing abortion providers are essentially committing rebellion against the state, by personally deciding what the law should be. State and society cannot tolerate this - indeed if there are cases for which the death penalty should always be preserved, these are the type.
Ce n'est pas une pipe. C'est une signature.
3
 2
|
Re: Breaking News: Roeder Convicted
Fri Jan 29, 2010 at 02:06:19 PM EST
|
Whether they believe it or not, the folks who advocate for killing abortion providers are essentially committing rebellion against the state, by personally deciding what the law should be.
To clarify this (since I don't think it's clear from what I initially said) what I meant was that by enforcing a "law" that was not enacted through agreed upon legislative or judicial process, Roeder was essentially declaring the state illegitimate. An act of murder with such intent goes beyond simple murder and edges more towards rebellion or treason. His actions and methods remind one of 1960s & 70s leftist radical groups such as the Weathermen, rather ironically, considering how far apart they would otherwise be ideologically, no doubt.
Ce n'est pas une pipe. C'est une signature.
To be clear, the interesting pieces it his one: The jury deliberated for just 37 minutes before finding Scott Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., guilty of premeditated, first-degree murder. Roeder also was convicted of aggravated assault for pointing a gun at two ushers at Tiller's church after the shooting.
In almost all first degree murder cases, especially in states where the death penalty is possible, deliberation is much much slower. That pretty much is a jury that walked in said "it's first degree" and then waited for 30 minutes so they didn't turn right around. This clearly means the jury thought his defense was bullshit. And once you discard that "defense" what you have is premeditated first degree murder.
I think the defense did Roeder a disservice by letting him testify. His testimony about having practiced, and planning this murder for a long time, was not helpful.
I'm very glad the jury reached this result, and I'm pleased and a bit surprised at the shortness of deliberations. And believe it or not, I'm happy that the prosecution is seeking a Hard50 (50 years in prison before eligibility for parole).
