Roeder (Tiller's Killer) Considering Justifiable Homicide Defense

Scott Roeder, the man who shot and killed George Tiller (Berman Post: George Tiller Shot Dead) ultimately resulting in the closing of his clinic (Berman Post: Tiller's Abortion Clinic to Close Permanently), appears to be considering a defense of Justifiable Homicide.

I think it is unlikely such a defense will work or even be allowed. An appeal on these grounds in a different case was rejected. The problem with this approach is the message. Boiled down, the argument is either that Tiller killed a lot of unborn children (fetuses) so Roeder was right to kill him, or that Tiller would kill in the future and thus Roeder was right. If accepted for the first reason it would encourage vigilantism. If accepted for the second reason, it would require the courts to recognize a fetus instantly making abortion illegal. It would also have to over come the serious problem of a lack of immediacy.

An interesting hypothetical case (this is NOT advocacy for any behavior) would be if someone burst into a clinic and forcefully stopped the abortion provider right as they were about to perform an abortion. It would solve the immediacy problem and would present a defense of others argument. The problem here would be that the fetus would have to be recognized as a person. To try to get around that, you could argue mistaken defense of another. You are saying that you had a reasonable belief that you were acting to save a life, even if you were not legally speaking. I have not had time to research this personally, but plan to when I have more time.

Regardless of the chance of Roeder's success with that claim, there is not much else he could argue. The only other defense that comes to mind that he could try is insanity. This defense could transition to that. The insanity defense fails in the vast majority of cases it is tried in, so Roeder will likely be spending time in prison.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_abortion_shooting

"Scott Roeder, 51, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated assault charges in the May 31 shooting death of Tiller in the foyer of his Wichita church. The Kansas City, Mo., man has refused to discuss his case, but he has told The Associated Press that Tiller's killing was justified to save "the lives of unborn children."

Roeder has court-appointed defense attorneys, but he apparently has now turned to Michael Hirsh, the lawyer who represented Paul Hill on appeal for killing a Florida abortion provider and his bodyguard in 1994. Hill was executed in 2003 after the Florida Supreme Court rejected Hirsh's argument that the judge should have allowed Hill to present to jurors his claim that the killings were justified to prevent abortions.
...
The Florida Supreme Court ruled in denying Hill's appeal that his motivation would not change the outcome of the case. "As a practical matter, permitting a defendant to vindicate his or her criminal activity in this manner would be an invitation for lawlessness," the justices wrote.

But Hirsh discounted the suggestion that if a jury acquitted Roeder of murder based on such a defense, it would lead to an open season on abortion doctors.

"It has been open season on unborn children for over 30 years. I think on abortionists there will be a bag limit," Hirsh said in a phone interview this week from his Kennesaw, Ga., office."

Hat tip to http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/34555_Anti-Abortion_Lawyer_Plans_to_Argue_Justifiable_Homicide.

Past related posts:
Berman Post: George Tiller Shot Dead: "George Tiller"
Berman Post: Bill O'Reilly on George Tiller's Murder
Berman Post: Warren Hern - "The Main Difference Between The American Anti-Abortion Movement And The Taliban is About 8,000 Miles"
Berman Post: Olbermann Blames O'Reilly And Fox News For Tiller's Murder
Berman Post: John Gibson - 'If O'Reilly is Responsible For Tiller's Murder Olbermann is Responsible For Long's Murder'
Berman Post: Obama Issues a Statement on Long's Death
Berman Post: Media's Double Standard on Long And Tiller Murders
Berman Post: Tiller's Funeral Draws Protesters
Berman Post: Tiller's Abortion Clinic to Close Permanently