Fox News and CNN are on alert as I write this:
Per @CNN's @DavidAriosto: "The jury in the Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell case has reached a verdict on all 263 counts."
— Jason Seher (@jhseher) May 13, 2013
Stand by.
Update: Like Ace, I think the fact that they were hung on two counts this morning bodes ill. If they’ve already found him guilty on the four murder counts, they wouldn’t let divisions over a lesser charge delay the verdict. If, on the other hand, they’d already found him guilty on two murder counts and are stuck on the other two, you would think the “guilty” faction would relent on the two that are undecided since they’ve already nailed him twice. The likeliest disposition is that they’ve acquitted him on two counts and are, or were, fighting over murder charges on the other two.
Needless to say, with 263 counts, they’re going to get him on something. He’ll do time. But the murder charges, for obvious reasons, are what people are interested in.
Update: In case you’ve seen the now-famous photo from the trial of a baby with its spine slit, don’t look for a verdict on that murder charge today. The judge has already dismissed it on grounds that the prosecution couldn’t prove that the baby was born alive before it was, effectively, decapitated. Perfectly legal in America to kill it in the womb and then cut its spine in half, just to be sure.
Update (Ed): From JD Mullane, a nuanced split decision on the murder charges:
Phila abortionist Kermit #Gosnell guilty 1st degree murder in 3 of 4 babies.
— jd mullane (@jdmullane) May 13, 2013
Looks like the jury was really trying to get this right. Stand by for more.
Update (Ed): Also guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Karnamaya Mongar, the woman who died in a late-term abortion.
Update (Ed): Last week, Kermit Gosnell was smiling and laughing in the courtroom. Not any longer:
#Gosnell looked shocked and bewildered when convicted of multiple counts of first degree murder. #nrlc
— Jacki Ragan (@JSR1353) May 13, 2013
Update (Ed): This may seem redundant, but these charges would have allowed the jury to take a pass on 1st-degree murder convictions if so inclined:
The abortionist #Gosnell also guilty of infanticide in death of Baby A, and conspiracy in deaths of babies C and D.
— jd mullane (@jdmullane) May 13, 2013
The local NBC affiliate reports that sentencing will begin on July 15th. They will empanel a different jury to consider the death penalty for the murder charges.
Update (Erika): …And the babies, no?
A just verdict. The jury has rightly convicted #Gosnell for his appalling crimes, ensuring no woman is victimized by him ever again.
— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) May 13, 2013
Update (Erika): NARAL‘s statement also straight-up skates over the fact that Gosnell was just convicted for the murder of three babies:
Kermit Gosnell has been found guilty and will get what he deserves. Now, let’s make sure these women are vindicated by delivering what all women deserve: access to the full range of health services including safe, high-quality and legal abortion care.
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