Salon.com > Maryclaire Dale

Gosnell avoids death penalty

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:56:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia abortion doctor convicted of killing three babies who were born alive in his grimy clinic agreed Tuesday to give up his right to an appeal and faces life in prison but will be spared a death sentence.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder in the deaths of the babies who were delivered alive and killed with scissors.

In a case that became a flashpoint in the nation's abortion debate, former clinic employees testified that Gosnell routinely performed illegal abortions past Pennsylvania's 24-week limit, that he delivered babies who were still moving, whimpering or breathing, and that he and his assistants dispatched the newborns by "snipping" their spines, as he referred to it.

Prosecutors agreed to two life sentences without parole, and Gosnell was to be sentenced Wednesday in the death of the third baby, an involuntary manslaughter conviction in the death of a patient and hundreds of lesser counts.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty because Gosnell killed more than one person, and his victims were especially vulnerable given their age. But Gosnell's own advanced age had made it unlikely he would ever be executed before his appeals ran out.

Gosnell guilty in 3 babies’ deaths

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:30:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A Philadelphia abortion doctor was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder and could face execution in the deaths of three babies who authorities say were delivered alive and then killed with scissors at his grimy clinic, in a case that became a flashpoint in the nation's debate over abortion.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, was cleared in the death of a fourth baby, who prosecutors say let out a soft whimper before he snipped its neck.

Gosnell was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the drug-overdose death of a patient who had undergone an abortion.

Gosnell appeared hopeful before the verdict and calm afterward; jurors and lawyers on both sides were more emotional.

The jury will return Tuesday to hear evidence on whether Gosnell should get the death penalty.

Former clinic employees testified that Gosnell routinely performed illegal late-term abortions past Pennsylvania's 24-week limit, that he delivered babies who were still moving, whimpering or breathing, and that he and his assistants "snipped" the newborns' spines, as he referred to it.

"Are you human?" prosecutor Ed Cameron snarled during closing arguments as Gosnell sat calmly at the defense table. "To med these women up and stick knives in the backs of babies?"

3 murder charges dismissed in Gosnell case

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:52:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- An abortion provider charged with killing babies after they were born alive won a reprieve when a judge threw out three murder counts, but the death penalty still looms if he is convicted in four other newborn deaths.

Lawyers for Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, could start presenting defense witnesses as early as Wednesday. Gosnell has been in prison since a 2011 grand jury report that described his outdated West Philadelphia clinic as "a house of horrors."

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart had ruled Tuesday that prosecutors over the past month failed to make a case on three of the seven first-degree murder counts, involving aborted babies known as Baby B, Baby C and Baby G.

On Wednesday, Minehart clarified that he did not intend to dismiss charges related to Baby C, which former employee Lynda Williams admits killing after it was alive for 20 minutes.

Instead, Minehart has thrown out the charges involving Baby F, which allegedly jerked its leg after it was born. Another staff member says Gosnell then cut the baby's neck to "ensure fetal demise."

Biden due at funeral Tuesday for ex-Sen. Specter

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:00:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania's longest-serving U.S. senator, will be remembered at a public funeral service attended by Vice President Joe Biden, his longtime senate colleague.

Specter, 82, died at home Sunday of complications from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. His funeral service is scheduled for noon Tuesday at Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley, near Philadelphia.

Specter's long political career thrust him to the center of many pivotal events in modern American history. He promoted the single-bullet theory in the death of President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, questioned Anita Hill about sexual harassment claims she raised against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the 1990s, and more recently worked to promote Mideast peace plans and stem-cell research.

President Barack Obama has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and other public buildings Tuesday.

"Arlen never walked away from his principles and was at his best when they were challenged," said Biden, who often rode home on the train with Specter from Washington, D.C.

Specter will be remembered as a political moderate who switched parties twice in his career, but mostly served as a Republican. He waged a short-lived run for president in 1995 on a platform that warned fellow Republicans of the "intolerant right."

DAs want Penn State fines to fund PA child centers

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 20:33:55 +0000

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Prosecutors in Pennsylvania hope to steer some of the $60 million in fines Penn State must pay the NCAA to children's advocacy centers across the state.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams says the group is not asking for a specific amount of money.

But there are only 21 advocacy centers across the state's 67 counties. Officials hope to build more.

The centers offer a single place for children to tell their stories of abuse to a trained interviewer, while police, therapists and others watch remotely.

This prevents children from having to tell their stories repeatedly to various experts. The centers also offer various services.

The $60 million fine is part of the NCAA sanctions that stem from the sex-abuse scandal involving convicted assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

___

Information from: Centre Daily Times, http://www.centredaily.com

“Jihad Jane” pleads guilty in terror plot

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:26:00 +0000

A Pennsylvania woman who called herself "Jihad Jane" online pleaded guilty to her role in a plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had offended Muslims.

Colleen LaRose, 47, helped foreign terror suspects intent on starting a holy war in Europe and South Asia, prosecutors said.

LaRose, who also was accused of using the online screen name "Fatima LaRose," has been in custody since October 2009 and faces a possible life sentence under the four charges to which she pleaded guilty.

Speaking clearly but quietly, LaRose said Tuesday she had never been treated for any mental health problems and was entering her plea freely. She whispered a few comments to her lawyers, some of them prompting a smile from public defender Mark T. Wilson.

Wilson declined to comment afterward.

"We'll have a lot to say at sentencing," he said.

LaRose and co-defendant Jamie Paulin-Ramirez of Leadville, Colo., are the rare U.S. women charged with terrorism. Paulin-Ramirez pleaded not guilty after being arrested in Ireland with other terror suspects.

The March 2010 indictment charged LaRose with conspiring with jihadist fighters and pledging to commit murder in the name of a Muslim holy war, or jihad. The indictment was announced hours after authorities arrested seven suspected terrorists in Ireland allegedly linked to LaRose.

Philadelphia towing war leads to shootings, fire

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:45:00 +0000

A tow truck driver is shot, allegedly by a rival, at an accident scene. Two days later, properties linked to both companies are torched or riddled by gunfire.

A towing turf war has broken out in Philadelphia.

"I've never seen problems where it erupted into this kind of violence," Philadelphia police spokesman Frank Vanore said.

Philadelphia has tried in recent years to rein in pushy tow truck drivers who start aggressively competing for business the second an accident comes across the police radio. "Wreck-chasers" race to accident scenes to sign up drivers with papers that sometimes commit them to expensive repairs, said a city councilman who has pushed legislation to make the towing process more orderly.

"Whoever's fingerprints are on that car first normally gets the ability to claim the wreck," said Councilman Frank Rizzo. "And that's probably what caused this dispute."

On Monday, a towing company worker in a Cadillac Escalade arrived on the scene of a crash in North Philadelphia. Despite not having a tow truck, he tried to claim a damaged Dodge Neon. That didn't sit well with the tow truck driver who arrived next. An argument ensued.

Jury: Philly can’t evict scouts for no-gays rule

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:02:00 +0000

The city of Philadelphia cannot evict a local Boy Scouts chapter from a city-owned building for refusing to admit gays, a federal jury ruled Wednesday.

The city had insisted that nonprofits given free use of its property must abide by local anti-discrimination laws, which include equal protection for gays. But the jury found the city's reason violated the local scout council's First Amendment rights.

"We do hope that eventually national (Boy Scouts of America) will change its minds. But at this point, the Cradle of Liberty (Council) is still obligated to follow its policy," said foreman Merrill Arbogast, 40, of Reinholds, a trucker and former Eagle Scout.

In their lawsuit, the scouts had sought an injunction barring the city from evicting them, or charging $200,000 a year in rent, on their stately Beaux Arts headquarters building.

While the verdict gives weight to their request, the judge did not immediately issue the ban. Instead, he told jurors the city's anti-discrimination policy is "principled" and said he hoped the two "honorable institutions" could work something out.

"The city defended this suit in a very principled way, in an area of the law that is highly nuanced -- Constitutional Law -- and highly unpredictable," U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter told jurors after the verdict.

“Jihad Jane” pleads not guilty to terror plot

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:50:00 +0000

The Philadelphia-area woman who authorities say dubbed herself "Jihad Jane" online pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court to a four-count indictment charging her in an overseas terrorist plot.

Colleen LaRose, 46, of Pennsburg, appeared in court wearing a green jumpsuit and corn rows in her blond hair. A May 3 trial date was set.

She was accused of conspiring with jihadist fighters and pledging to commit murder in the name of a Muslim holy war. Authorities say she wanted to kill a Swedish artist who had offended Muslims.

Authorities say she grew acquainted online with violent co-conspirators from around the world. They say she posted a YouTube video in 2008 saying she was "desperate to do something" to ease the suffering of Muslims.

She was arrested in October 2009 in Philadelphia while returning to the United States.

LaRose spent most of her life in Texas, where she dropped out of high school, married at 16 and again at 24, and racked up a few minor arrests, records show.

After a second divorce, she followed a boyfriend to Pennsylvania in about 2004 and began caring for his father while he worked long hours, sometimes on the road. In 2005, she swallowed a handful of pills in a failed suicide attempt, telling police she was upset over the death of her father -- but did not want to die.

In rare case, US woman accused of aiding terror

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:05:00 +0000

An indictment against a suburban Philadelphia woman accused of recruiting jihadist fighters online and moving to Europe to try to kill a Swedish artist is a rare case of an American woman aiding foreign terrorists, authorities say, and shows the evolution of the threat of terrorism.

Colleen R. LaRose agreed to murder the artist, marry a terrorism suspect so he could move to Europe and martyr herself if necessary, the indictment filed Tuesday said.

LaRose, who called herself JihadJane online, is "one of only a few such cases nationwide in which females have been charged with terrorism violations," said U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Dean Boyd.

LaRose, 46, of Pennsburg, Pa., has been held without bail since her Oct. 15 arrest in Philadelphia.

Authorities said the case shows how terror groups are looking to recruit Americans to carry out their goals.

"Today's indictment, which alleges that a woman from suburban America agreed to carry out murder overseas and to provide material support to terrorists, underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face," said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security.

CBS fights ’04 Jackson ‘wardrobe malfunction’ fine

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:26:00 +0000

After six years of legal wrangling and one Supreme Court review of Janet Jackson's infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction," CBS argued anew Tuesday that it should not be held responsible for the half-second of nudity.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia had thrown out the FCC's $550,000 fine against CBS as arbitrary, only to have the U.S. Supreme Court kick it back down for review. The Supreme Court pointed to its ruling in a Fox Television-led challenge, when it said the FCC could threaten fines over the use of a single curse word on live TV.

The FCC argued Tuesday that CBS was duly warned that its 2004 halftime performers might add some shock value to the act. Jackson's choreographer had promised as much, FCC lawyer Jacob Lewis said. During the act, singer Justin Timberlake ripped off Jackson's bustier, exposing her breast for nine-sixteenths of a second.

"There were considerable alarm bells about deviating from the script," Lewis told the 3rd Circuit panel. "CBS had a duty to investigate."

CBS complained that the FCC had previously applied the same decency standards to words and images -- and excused fleeting instances of both.