Question of the Day -- Officer Chauvin Edition

If Officer Chauvin did nothing wrong and didn't, in fact, murder Mr. Floyd---which he did, the video shows it, of course--why did the city of Minneapolis give Mr. Floyd's family 27 million dollars?

Because they just had it lying around and wanted to be nice?

Thankfully, Roeder just won't shut up

Scott Roeder is back, this time on radio , rambling with his thoughts on his situation. Fortunately for us all, he keeps admitting he cold bloodedly shot and killed Dr. George Tiller in Tiller's church on a Sunday morning, while the Doctor was volunteering for the church. ("Tell me, Mr. Roeder, who would Jesus kill, anyway?").

Since the question about Roeder is whether or not he killed Dr. Tiller and nothing else, he keeps assuring his own life sentence.

Good on ya', Scott. Thanks.

Roeder's attorneys have petitioned for a retrial, of course.

Nope. No, I don't think so but thanks for trying anyway, boys.

Roeder found guilty

"A Wichita jury found confessed killer Scott Roeder guilty of first-degree murder for killing Wichita abortion provider George Tiller."

"The jury also found Roeder guilty of two counts of aggravated assault against two witnesses."

"The state will be seeking a 'hard 50' sentence."

"Jurors deliberated for less than an hour Friday morning."

I'm glad that's over.



Link here:

http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2010/01/scott_roeder_guilty_of_first-d.php

The Roeder trial should be over

The Scott Roeder trial about whether or not he shot and killed (murdered) Dr. George Tiller should be, in effect, over as of yesterday .

Roeder (I refuse to refer to him as "Mr. Roeder. I cannot/will not give him that respect) confessed, under oath, on the witness stand in court.

To repeat for emphasis: Roeder is on trial to decide if he killed Dr. Tiller.

He confessed to it yesterday, under oath, on the witness stand, in court.

And get this--not only did Roeder admit to killing him but he also offered up that " he had been thinking about doing so since 1993."

The Judge made two very simple but wise and true statements regarding the case yesterday, too because, as the article in The Star pointed out "at the end of the day he ruled that he would not give jurors the option of considering a voluntary manslaughter conviction."

"Such a defense requires that a person must be stopping the imminent use of unlawful force," he said.

"There’s no imminence of danger on a Sunday morning in the back of a church,” Wilbert said, “let alone unlawful conduct." (This is as Sevesteen pointed out here, a couple days ago, in comments on this blog).

“In the state of Kansas, abortions are legal.”

It's over.

Roeder has declared himself guilty.

Fortunately, Judge Wilbert seemed to have had a change of mind on the case, too, when he announced, finally and fortunately, that the murder charge is the only option the jurors can decide after all, thank goodness.

I'm glad we've conclusively gotten that out of the way.

Sentencing should precede.

The only question now is whether the jury will return its verdict today or Monday, I believe.

Side note: I love the picture of Roeder on the front page of The Kansas City Star today. He looks as though he had a lobotomy and is trying to understand whatever someone is saying to him.

On the Scott Roeder murder trial

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what a newspaper does best.

The coverage, in Wichita, of this murder trial--that of Scott Roeder having premeditatively shot and killed Dr. Tiller with a gun and bullet to the head while Dr. Tiller volunteered for and in his church one Sunday morning--is what The Wichita Eagle-Beacon and The Kansas City Star--and all other newspapers--do best.

They are covering a local story and they are covering it completely and thoroughly with terrific detail and moment to moment coverage and keep this in mind--BLOGGERS CAN'T DO WHAT THE NEWSPAPERS ARE DOING.

It takes a reporter, it takes a seasoned reporter and it takes someone with the wherewithal (read: income from a revenue source--in this case, advertising and subscriptions) to cover a story like this completely and with this kind of dedication.

This trial is going to take at least a couple of weeks.

There is a strong chance, too, that this trial, already, will be called for a mistrial (see earlier post here) and that will take still more weeks of coverage, along with the depth of knowing about this history of all involved--the Judge, the District Attorney, the defense attorney, the victim, the victim's family and the accused murderer.

So complain all you want about newspapers and how they "don't work anymore", especially you bloggers out there, should you have any complaints.

But this proves, better than most anything, how important newspapers, their resources and their reporters are and the value they give to society.

Further proof of premeditated first-degree murder

From The New York Times:

"In her opening statement, Ms. Foulston made clear that she intended to head off suggestions that Mr. Roeder’s acts were anything short of meticulously planned. Among the evidence she promised to show jurors: a brochure from Dr. Tiller’s Wichita church, dated nearly a year before the killing, and found at Mr. Roeder’s Kansas City home; a receipt for an ammunition purchase 11 days before the shooting; a Wichita motel registration bearing Mr. Roeder’s name from one week before the killing, a weekend when Dr. Tiller happened to miss church; and Mr. Roeder’s calendar — with the day of the shooting, May 31, marked with highlight."

So from this we can gather the following:

1) Roeder had been tracking Dr. Tiller for at least one year (brochure in his pocket)

2) purchase of ammunition 11 days before (I referred to this yesterday)

3) there is a good possibility the murderer was going to commit this same murder one week earlier but for Dr. Tiller missing church

4) the 1st degree murderer had clearly planned and dated when he wanted to commit his execution-style murder of Dr. Tiller in Dr. Tiller's church, by marking the date on his calendar.


My point in covering this?

There are some things--like unlimited corporate finance of political campaigns--that are so eggregious that I want to make sure they're explained, covered and communicated, so hopefully people know what's happening and so the right thing comes out of it.

As to the Supreme Court ruling last week on corporations and campaign financing, the wrong thing happened.

Hopefully the right and true, correct outcome will arise from Wichita and this Roeder, murder case and he will get a full life sentence, with no possibility of parole.

Oh, yeah. It was premeditated, 1st degree murder all right

More information on Scott Roeder's murder trial in the death of Dr. George Tiller, shot and killed at and in his church, of all places, on a Sunday morning, while the Dr. Tiller was volunteering:

"The man accused of killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller bought a gun two weeks before the slaying and practiced shooting it near Topeka the day before Tiller’s death, prosecutors said Friday."

There's more: "Paul Ryding, an equine veterinarian and member of Tiller’s church, testified that... he had seen Roeder in church about six months before the shooting, sitting in a back pew."

Oh, yeah.

Besides being guilty of shooting and killing Dr. Tiller, which he confessed to, he's clearly guilty of planning (premeditating) his killing of Dr. Tiller.

Here's some more insanity from this trial:

"Security was tight. A bomb-sniffing dog was in the courtroom before jurors arrived and in the hallways outside during breaks."

I have to conclude that security has to be tight on this trial, too, because, unfortunately, more self-righteous, right-wing, sanctimonious, religious fundamentalists with beliefs about "protecting life"--those of the unborn, anyway--might well try again, like the illustrious Scott Roeder, to take matters into their own hands and possibly blow someone up down there in Wichita, what with this trial, so they can have the kind of justice they think there should be.

And that's from the religious ones.

The wackos, anyway.

Want proof?

"Cathy Ramey, a longtime anti-abortion activist from Oregon, said she came to Wichita to observe the trial."

“'I’m here because I believe that God has a consistent standard of justice and whatever force is necessary to protect an innocent born person ought to be applied to an innocent unborn person as well,' Ramey said."

But wait, there's more:

"Regina Dinwiddie, a friend of Roeder’s from Kansas City, showed reporters a petition that she had been taking around Wichita. It declares Roeder’s actions as 'morally justified if they were necessary for the purpose of defending innocent human life. Under these conditions, Scott Roeder should be acquitted of all charges.'”

"Dinwiddie said she had gathered about 100 signatures on her petition."

That is some sad, sick thinking from these people, but it is the way they think, as shown by Roeder's actions and these women's own words and actions.

When you "know" God is on your side, you can do whatever you wish.

Laws, sanity and decency be damned.

Question to Scott Roede, Ms. Ramey, Ms. Dinwiddie and their ilk: Who would Jesus kill?

Fantastic, bizarre, freakish coincidence

Personally, I think it is absolutely a fantastic coincidence that the murderer Scott Roeder's trial for cold-bloodedly killing Dr. George Tiller--at the doctor's church on a Sunday morning, as Tiller was volunteering for the church and its worship service--is starting on the same day as the Roe v. Wade decision's 37th anniversary.

There's some terrific cosmic symbiosis going on there, somehow.