Roeder May Claim “Justifiable Homicide” Defense
Lawyers for Scott Roeder, the man accused of murdering Dr. George Tiller, have said that they might use a “justifiable homicide” defense when Roeder goes to trial. According to the Wichita Eagle:
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.
Hirsh confirmed he has spoken once to Roeder in recent weeks about representing him, but he has not yet been retained. Hirsh said he had not researched the facts of the case or Kansas law enough to know whether the justifiable homicide defense could be used but said a jury should be allowed to decide if it is applicable.
Scott Roeder’s actions were hardly “justifiable.” The idea of a “justifiable homicide” is laughable. Either you’re pro-life, or you’re not. Somebody who murders a man in church is not a hero, he’s a terrorist. The Wichita Eagle article speculates that it is unlikely that Roeder will be able to use the “justifiable homicide” defense, because nobody has ever been able to do so. And for good reason. Murder is murder, period.
1Lyndsey
wrote on 3 September 2009 at 10:31
It also doesn’t make sense that someone could claim “justifiable homicide” when the so-called justification is disagreement with a legal medical procedure. Grrrr.
2Mrs. Mastro
wrote on 3 September 2009 at 19:51
This is typical of the hypocrisy of the “right to life” folks.
We can not have abortions. That means we are killing a child. But war is fine, since the children killed are Iraqi. Oh, and it’s OK to execute murderers–their life is forfeit because they are not “innocent.” And, well, same goes for Dr. Tiller. Since he was killing babies, well, he deserved to die and it’s OK for us to play God and hasten the process of sending him to hell, but it is certainly not OK for Dr. T or anyone like him to take life into their hands. Oh, no. Only we get to decide. And, by the way, it is perfectly OK for us to terrorize clinic workers, make providers wear bullet proof vests to work and anything else we want to call God’s work. Cuz we sure do get to say what God would want.
3Lauren O
wrote on 7 September 2009 at 0:06
Additional question: Why would he hire the guy who represented another anti-choice terrorist when that anti-choice terrorist was executed? You’d think that would be the last person he would want as his lawyer.
4Carolyn Marie Fugit
wrote on 7 September 2009 at 15:02
Well, Lauren, Hirsch successfully defended other anti-choice terrorists including an associate of Roeder’s, Regina Dinwiddie. Since Shelley Shannon tried killing Dr. Tiller, Kansas has strengthened anti-choice laws and passed Alexa’s Law (if a fetus is harmed in the course of a crime against a pregnant woman, two charges can be filed instead of just one).
Roeder Watch is looking at various defense options and Kansas law: http://roederwatch.blogspot.com/