WICHITA, KAN. — In a trial watched closely by activists on both sides of the abortion debate, Dr. George Tiller, the Kansas physician accused of performing illegal late-term abortions, was found not guilty Friday. The jury of three men and three women deliberated for less than an hour.
Tiller has been targeted by antiabortion politicians, legal officials and activists for years, but this was the first time he faced a jury.
When the court clerk announced the first of the 19 verdicts, Tiller, 67, squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. It was the only reaction he showed.
Spectators in the courtroom were silent when the first not-guilty verdict was read. Most of them were affiliated with the antiabortion group Operation Rescue. Some bowed their heads in disappointment. Some wept.
A few minutes later, Tiller was escorted out of the courtroom by a sheriff's deputy, who held tightly to the cuff of Tiller's sport coat. A cordon of uniformed and plainclothes officers planted themselves between Tiller and the spectators.
Tiller's three attorneys spoke to reporters after the jury was dismissed.
"Dr. Tiller and his family are just happy it's over, with an eminently just result. This whole trial was political," said lead defense attorney Dan Monnat. He praised "these six brave souls" as refusing to be swayed by the politics of the abortion debate in Kansas, where passions on the issue run high.
Outside the courtroom, Assistant Atty. Gen. Barry Disney said: "We respect the jurors, and they worked hard. We can do no more than give them the facts and let them make a decision."
Disney, a methodical prosecutor who often tries death penalty cases with no courtroom audience at all, did not seem surprised by the verdict. When asked about criticism that he had not been aggressive enough, he said: "I don't agree with that at all. We presented all the evidence we had. We left no stone unturned."
Tiller was charged with 19 criminal misdemeanor counts. Kansas law requires that a physician get a second opinion from a doctor with whom he or she has no legal or financial ties before terminating a pregnancy of longer than 22 weeks when the fetus is considered "viable" (able to survive outside the womb). The consulting doctor must agree that continuing a pregnancy to term would cause "substantial and irreversible harm" to the woman, including mental or emotional harm.
