Judge to hear motions on ‘necessity defense’ in Kan. abortion shooting case
By APTuesday, December 22, 2009
Judge to hear key motions in Kan. abortion trial
WICHITA, Kan. — A judge in Kansas is set to hear pretrial motions in the case of the man charged with killing one of the nation’s few doctors who performed late-term abortions.
Fifty-one-year-old Scott Roeder of Kansas City, Mo., has confessed to shooting Dr. George Tiller on May 31 at the doctor’s Wichita church. Roeder says the killing was necessary to save unborn children.
Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert was set to hear arguments Tuesday on efforts by prosecutors to bar the so-called “necessity defense” at Roeder’s trial.
Other motions deal with jury selection, a change of venue, discovery and other trial issues.
Roeder is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 11 on one count of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
