ether to allow the confessed killer of Wichita physician George Tiller to argue that his killing was voluntary manslaughter instead of first-degree murder. Today, Prosecutors filed a motion urging Sedgwick County Judge Warren Wilbert (right) to bar Scott Roeder from arguing he is only guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Pursuant to Kansas law, voluntary manslaughter is the "unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force." Roeder's attorneys are arguing that the killing was a justifiable act. "In the mind of Mr. Roeder," defense attorneys asserted, "the victim presented a clear danger to unborn children."
The Wichita Eagle reported prosecutors argued that the jury "should consider only whether the killing was premeditated." When Judge Wilbert ruled last week that he would consider allowing Roeder to use voluntary manslaughter as a defense, concern was raised among other health care providers. Dr. Warren Hern of Colorado told The Associated Press, "This judge has basically announced a death sentence for all of us who help women. That is the effect of this ruling."
Feminist Majority Foundation leader Katherine Spillar called Wilbert's action a "perplexing decision" that amounted to a "back-door permission for admitted killer Scott Roeder to use a ‘justifiable homicide' defense that is both un-justifiable and unconscionable."
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