The trial of one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers began Monday with defense attorneys trying to cast doubt on whether the doctor intentionally broke a state law requiring that an independent physician sign off on the procedure.

Dan Monnat, a defense attorney for Dr. George Tiller, told jurors in his opening statement that Tiller relied on advice from the state medical board’s director and one of his lawyers when he used Dr. Kristin Neuhaus as a second opinion for some abortions.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors alleging he failed to obtain a second opinion for some late-term abortions in 2003 from a physician with whom he had no legal or financial relationship.

Kansas law allows late-term abortions if two doctors agree that it is necessary to save a women’s life or prevent “substantial and irreversible” harm to “a major bodily function,” a phrase that’s been interpreted to include mental health.

Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney told jurors in his opening statements that Tiller recruited Neuhaus in 1999, making his Wichita clinic a “one-stop shop” for women seeking abortions. He said that Neuhaus was essentially an employee of Tiller, that the two were so close they had a legal and financial relationship prohibited by the law.

“No one is above the law. It doesn’t matter how just someone feels their cause is,” Disney said.

Monnat told jurors that Larry Buening, then-executive director of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts,

suggested to Tiller in July 1999 that he use Neuhaus as a second opinion. He said Buening told Tiller the discussion was “off the record” and told him that if asked about it he would deny it.

Buening did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press for comment.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens noted earlier in the day that Kansas does not allow ignorance of the law or advice of counsel as a valid defense. He told attorneys he would likely uphold any objections prosecutors had to evidence that would support such arguments.

Monnat told jurors that the board “recognized and approved” Tiller’s relationship with Neuhaus until 2006, when abortion became a campaign issue in the attorney general’s race.

Disney told the jury that Tiller provided Neuhaus with legal advice from his attorney, including writing for her the referral form letter used to provide that second opinion. He said Neuhaus was paid by patients between $250 and $300 in cash for her consultations.

“By 2003, Dr. Neuhaus was a full-time consultant for the defendant,” Disney said. “That is all she did. She had no other job, no other source of income.”

All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press Writer

Jury selection in the criminal trial of George Tiller entered its second day Tuesday, with both sides working to seat a panel with members willing to set aside their personal views about abortion.

One juror was dismissed early Tuesday after telling attorneys she signed a citizen petition demanding a grand jury investigation of Tiller and acknowledging her sister was a frequent abortion protester at his Wichita clinic.

Another was dismissed in the afternoon after he told attorneys he didn’t know whether he could overlook his anti-abortion beliefs.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors alleging that he failed to obtain a second opinion for late-term abortions from an independent physician, as required by Kansas law. If convicted, he could face a year in county jail or a fine of $2,500 for each charge.

The jury pool will be cut to six jurors and two alternates today. Opening statements and trial testimony will begin Monday.

Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney told prospective jurors that prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that Tiller performed the 19 late-term abortions and that he was required to obtain a second, independent opinion. Jurors need only decide whether Ann Kristin Neuhaus, the doctor who provided Tiller with second opinions, had a financial or legal relationship with him, Disney said.

Prosecutors contend Tiller broke the law because he had a financial relationship with Neuhaus, who has been granted immunity from prosecution and could testify.

Defense attorney Dan Monnat hinted at the defense strategy by saying Tiller has never “knowingly or intentionally” been financially affiliated with the doctor who provided second opinions.

All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

BY ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press

Defense attorneys hint at their strategy while questioning potential jurors.

Potential jurors in the trial of George Tiller were told Monday to set aside their personal views about abortion, and at least one was dismissed after she said she couldn’t.

“This trial is not a debate about abortion,” Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney told prospective jurors as jury selection began in Sedgwick County District Court. “It is not about whether abortion is right or wrong…. This trial is about whether the defendant has violated the law.”

Tiller, one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers, is charged with 19 misdemeanors alleging he failed to obtain a second opinion for late-term abortions from an independent physician, as required by Kansas law. If convicted, he could face a year in jail or a fine of $2,500 for each misdemeanor charge.

Defense attorney Dan Monnat hinted at the defense strategy while questioning the potential jurors by saying Tiller has never been “knowingly or intentionally” financially affiliated with the doctor who provided second opinions.

Tiller’s defense attorneys say he is innocent and have called his prosecution a “hyper-technical political trial.” They have said they will appeal if he is convicted.

Tiller and his clinic have been a target of abortion opponents for decades. His clinic was bombed in 1985, and an abortion opponent shot him in both arms in 1993.

Wichita also was the site of the 45-day “Summer of Mercy” event staged by Operation Rescue in 1991. Those mass demonstrations and clinic blockades led to more than 2,600 arrests.

Abortion opponents plan prayer vigils during the trial. Several prayed outside the courthouse Monday. Abortion-rights supporters also plan demonstrations.

Disney told prospective jurors that prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that Tiller performed the 19 late-term abortions and that he was required to obtain a second, independent opinion. Jurors need only decide whether Ann Kristin Neuhaus, the doctor who provided Tiller with second opinions, had a financial or legal relationship with him, Disney said.

Neuhaus, who has been granted immunity from prosecution, could testify.

One potential juror was dismissed after she said she was biased against Tiller and would find it hard to let go of her anti-abortion views.

Another was let go after he insisted he didn’t “want to be a part of it,” saying he has seen too much about the case in the media. A third man was dismissed because he did not understand English well.

Jury selection continues today and Wednesday.

All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press

The Kansas Attorney General’s Office on Friday said that while it doesn’t dispute a motion filed by lawyers for a Wichita abortion provider about records being mailed out of the state, it shouldn’t affect the prosecution of George Tiller.

Prosecutor Barry Disney said in a pleading filed in Sedgwick County District Court that he agreed that a package containing abortion records was mailed to Virginia, where former Attorney General Phill Kline works at the Liberty University Law School.

But Disney said it caused no harm to his case — in which Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors — because Kline is no longer a Kansas prosecutor.

“The mailing of this package is at its best an innocent act that means nothing,” Disney wrote to the court Friday. “At its worst it is the act of a private citizen whose conduct is not binding upon the office of the attorney general.”

Kline’s personal lawyer said the mailing “was a mistake.”

“Until 24 hours ago, no one associated with Phill Kline even knew what was in that package,” said Caleb Stegall, who represents Kline.

Dan Monnat, who represents Tiller, said in court papers filed late Thursday that the package was mailed on Kline’s last day as Johnson County district attorney and contained sensitive information about women who had received abortions at Tiller’s Wichita clinic.

Monnat argued that it is further evidence that Kline had no regard for patients’ privacy and is further proof of alleged misconduct in his investigation of Tiller.

Contacted Friday at the Liberty Law School, Kline declined to comment.

Kline has said that Monnat is trying to deflect attention from the criminal charges against his client.

Stegall said Kline took a collection of documents to Sedgwick County for a January hearing, under subpoena by Tiller’s lawyers. Among them were Kline’s personal diaries, which Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens ordered would not be turned over to Tiller’s attorneys.

But the stack also included abortion records and summaries of Tiller’s records.

“Those records were supposed to remain in Sedgwick County,” Stegall said.

Stegall said that when the box was sent to Johnson County from Sedgwick County, Kline’s administrative staff forwarded it to Virginia unopened — not inspecting the box to see whether it contained records that should remain with the district attorney.

Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-0514 or [email protected]. All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

Three days after Phill Kline testified in a Sedgwick County courtroom about the handling of abortion files, copies of those records were mailed to the Virginia city where the former Kansas prosecutor had taken a new job.

Lawyers for Wichita abortion provider George Tiller said in court papers filed late Thursday that the mailed package of documents is further evidence that Kline has no regard for patients’ privacy and further proof of alleged misconduct in his investigation.

Kline, who now works at the Liberty University Law School in Lynchburg, Va., did not immediately respond to attempts to contact him.

Assistant Kansas Attorney General Barry Disney, who is prosecuting a misdemeanor case against Tiller, said he plans to file a response today. But Disney doesn’t dispute the main facts of Thursday’s filing.

Dan Monnat, a member of Tiller’s defense team, is asking Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens to dismiss the charges against Tiller, who is set for trial next month.

Tiller’s lawyers have argued that Kline’s conduct when he investigated the doctor as Kansas Attorney General was so outrageous that the resulting charges should be dropped.

Tiller faces 19 misdemeanor charges related to his business relationship with a doctor who provided second opinions on whether the health of the mother was a reason to perform late-term abortions.

“The recent event suggests that Kline’s misconduct continues and there is still a need for the court to discourage it by forbidding prosecutors from using evidence acquired by Kline against Tiller,” Monnat said.

History of the case

Kline began investigating Tiller in April 2003, months after becoming Kansas attorney general.

News that Kline had tried to subpoena records from two Kansas abortion clinics, including Tiller’s, became public in 2005. Kline’s pursuit of the records became a focus of his failed 2006 re-election campaign.

Kline became Johnson County district attorney a month later, after being appointed to the office vacated by his successor as attorney general, Paul Morrison.

Morrison filed the current charges against Tiller in June 2007. Morrison resigned six months later because of a sex scandal. Steve Six, the current attorney general, took over prosecution of the case.

During a hearing in Wichita in November, Tiller’s lawyers produced evidence that Kline’s investigators had taken copies of records that identified abortion patients from the attorney general’s office in Topeka to Johnson County.

When a judge overseeing the case in Topeka learned about it, he ordered Kline to return the files, court records showed.

But Kline testified at another hearing in January that he kept summaries of the records with him and brought them to court with him in Sedgwick County.

Records in the mail 

Laura Shaneyfelt, another member of Tiller’s defense team, filed a sworn affidavit Thursday saying:

• The documents Kline brought with him to Sedgwick County were mailed from the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office to Liberty University on Jan. 9 — Kline’s last day as the county’s prosecutor.

• The package was returned to the Johnson County office on Feb. 13 because it was not addressed properly.

• Current Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe and assistant prosecutor Chris McMullin opened the box and found the Tiller records. They contacted Disney with the attorney general’s office.

Disney said he and an investigator went to Overland Park to inspect the package and recommended that it be locked in the Johnson County office. Disney then notified Monnat about the package.

Shaneyfelt wrote in her affidavit that Howe and McMullin said they had “a pretty strong suspicion” that the package was mailed by a former Kline employee who no longer worked at their office.

Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-0514 or [email protected]. All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

Former Kansas attorney general Phill Kline spent most of this morning on the witness stand defending his investigation of Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

Lawyers for Tiller are asking Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens to throw out misdemeanor charges against the doctor because of the way Kline collected evidence.

“This is a case of prosecutorial misconduct,” Lee Thompson, one of Tiller’s lawyers, told Owens at a pretrial hearing this morning.

Thompson was arguing for Owens to order Kline to turn over a personal diary and notes about his investigation.

Most of the morning’s testimony consisted of verbal fencing between Kline and lawyer Dan Monnat, another member of Tiller’s legal team.

During the first two minutes of his testimony Kline answered “I don’t recall” 10 times.

Just before court recessed for lunch, Monnat began asking Kline about his knowledge of an affair between his successor as attorney general, Paul Morrison, and Linda Carter, who worked for Kline after he became Johnson County district attorney.

Monnat is trying to show that, through Carter, Kline continued to influence the Tiller case after leaving office.

Morrison and Carter are also scheduled to testify this week.

Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-6514 or [email protected]. All content © 2009 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

Linda Carter said she and Paul Morrison nearly broke off their affair after a heated argument over Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

Morrison was just months into his new job as Kansas attorney general. Carter was his lover and worked with his predecessor at the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office.

Carter is a major witness in contentions by Tiller’s lawyers that “outrageous conduct” by two of the state’s top prosecutors led to the criminal case against the doctor.

Tiller’s lawyers are trying to persuade Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens to dismiss the case.

During testimony Tuesday in a pretrial hearing for Tiller, who faces 19 misdemeanor charges filed by Morrison, Carter told of the argument that changed their relationship.

Morrison, who resigned after his affair became public, is expected to testify today.

While Carter testified that she and Morrison argued over Tiller, she denied that she was pressured by former Attorney General Phill Kline, who initiated the investigation into Tiller and spent most of Tuesday answering questions.

Carter testified that Kline asked her whether Morrison was “going to do the right thing and charge Tiller.”

“And was that a comment that Phill Kline had made to you before then?” asked Dan Monnat, a lawyer representing Tiller.

“Absolutely not,” Carter said.

Earlier, Kline testified that he had told Carter he hoped Morrison would charge Tiller.

“I do recall her asking: “What do you think that Attorney General Morrison should do?’ ” Kline testified, “And I replied, ‘Do the right thing.’ ”

After the 2006 election, Kline and Morrison essentially switched jobs.

Morrison became attorney general and Kline filled Morrison’s old job as Johnson County district attorney.

Carter still worked as a chief administrator in the Johnson County prosecutor’s office.

Kline said he found out about Carter’s affair with Morrison through an anonymous letter in March 2007. Kline said he dismissed the letter as rumor and gave it to Steve Maxwell, a chief prosecutor who followed Kline from Topeka.

But Kline denied talking to Carter about the relationship until later in the year.

Carter said she and Morrison began their relationship in 2006, and it lasted through most of his campaign for attorney general.

The affair heated up after Morrison took office the following year, Carter said. She testified that Morrison promised to leave his wife and gave her a $16,000 ring.

Carter said she left her husband that January.

Soon afterward, Carter rented an apartment in Lawrence. She said Morrison moved some of his belongings into it and occasionally stayed with her.

By spring, however, Carter said they were arguing about Tiller.

Carter told him she opposed late-term abortions. Tiller is one of the few doctors in the country who will terminate a pregnancy after 22 weeks.

Kansas law allows late-term abortions in situations where carrying the pregnancy to term will endanger the physical or mental health of the mother.

The law requires medical determinations by two doctors.

Carter remembered Morrison saying he hadn’t accepted campaign contributions from Tiller. Carter said Morrison lied about that.

Morrison stormed out after the argument, Carter testified, and she took his belongings and put them in a pile on the floor.

Carter described the relationship as “on-again, off-again” after that.

On June 28, 2007, Morrison filed the charges against Tiller.

Morrison accused Tiller of having an illegal financial relationship with the doctor who provided the second opinions for the late-term abortions.

The Eagle is covering the hearings live via Twitter. Read updates at the blog What the Judge Ate for Breakfast: http://blogs.kansas.com/courts/.

Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-6514 or [email protected]. All content © 2008 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

Paul Morrison’s former lover has to appear in a Wichita courtroom next month during a hearing for Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, an Arkansas judge ruled Monday.

Newton County (Ark.) Circuit Judge John Putman determined that Linda Carter was a material witness in Tiller’s case, set to resume the week of Jan. 6 in Sedgwick County District Court.

Morrison and his predecessor as attorney general, Phill Kline, are also set to testify in the hearing, which began in November and was postponed until next month.

Tiller is charged with having an improper financial relationship with a doctor who gave second medical opinions to women seeking late-term abortions.

But Tiller’s lawyers said Carter’s sexual relationship with Morrison fueled outrageous conduct by the state’s top prosecutors and led to illegal charges against Tiller.

Tiller’s lawyers are asking Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens to dismiss the case.

Carter’s affair with Morrison forced him to resign as Kansas attorney general, six months after he had filed 19 misdemeanor charges against Tiller. Carter worked as an administrator in the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office for Morrison and Kline.

Morrison’s charges were based on evidence Kline collected during a three-year investigation of Tiller that began in 2003, shortly after Kline assumed office.

After being defeated by Morrison for re-election as attorney general in 2006, Kline was named by Johnson County Republicans to replace Morrison as district attorney. Carter remained in the district attorney’s office.

Wichita attorney Dan Monnat, who represents Tiller, said Carter became a go-between in Kline’s effort to push Morrison for criminal charges against Tiller.

“Carter tried to influence Morrison while Carter was an employee of Kline, and while Carter enjoyed a position of influence over Morrison,” Monnat said.

Morrison filed the charges against Tiller in June 2007. The following December, details about Morrison’s affair with Carter emerged, forcing him to resign as attorney general.

Steve Six, the current attorney general, decided to pursue the charges against Tiller.

Monnat had tried for months to serve a subpoena on Carter, who had moved from Kansas. A process server eventually found Carter in Western Grove, Ark.

Carter challenged the subpoena to return to Kansas. Putman examined statements Carter had made to an investigator for the

Johnson County District Attorney’s Office before ruling that she was a material witness in Tiller’s case.

The judge also ordered Tiller’s defense to pay $1,000 in travel expenses for Carter.

By RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

Next week, Chad and Shannon Floyd will be able to relax in western Kansas free of the murder charges that dogged them for the past three years. The husband and wife are set to meet with a judge in Johnson City, about five hours west of Wichita in southwest Kansas, on Monday to sign a final order of dismissal in a murder case against them that’s dragged through two trials that ended without a verdict.

“Chad and Shannon Floyd and their families have had to endure three years of accusations, innuendo and rumor that have been absolutely false,” said Wichita attorney Dan Monnat, who represented Chad Floyd.

The body of Michael Golub, 27, has never been found. Golub was a former boyfriend of Shannon Floyd, now 30. The two were involved in a custody dispute over their son. Golub disappeared on May 20, 2005. The Floyds said Golub never showed up to get the boy that night. His pickup was found six days later on a county road in northwest Grant County.

Richard Guinn and Barry Disney of the Kansas Attorney General’s Office claimed Chad and Shannon Floyd shot Golub when he came to pick up his son. The prosecutors said the custody battle interfered with plans for the Floyds to move to Montana from their Stanton County home, less than a half-hour from the Colorado border.

The couple purchased a gun the day Golub disappeared, and investigators found Golub’s blood had dripped between the planks on the Floyds’ front porch. Witnesses said Chad Floyd, now 29, told a friend he’d pay Golub $50,000 to drop the case and said he wished Golub would disappear.

Lawyers Monnat and Kurt Kerns, both of Wichita, argued for the defense that there were people near the Floyds’ house that night who would have heard gunshots – but didn’t – and that a different friend of the Floyds showed up unexpectedly when the killing was supposedly taking place. The defense also suggested that Golub’s role as an informant in a local drug case led to his disappearance. Adding to the rural courtroom drama: The Floyds are part of an affluent family that owns a chain of banks in the western part of Kansas and in eastern Colorado.

“They handled the situation with dignity and perseverance, believing their innocence would eventually be demonstrated for all,” said Kerns, who represented Shannon Floyd.

A spokeswoman for the Kansas Attorney General said that after each hung jury, Monnat and Kerns asked the judge to dismiss the case in a way that would prevent the state from reopening it. This is called dismissal with prejudice. “The concern is that if a third trial based on the exact same evidence ends in a hung jury the court may seriously consider a dismissal with prejudice,” said Ashley Anstaett on behalf of the attorney general. Under the terms of the dismissal, the state can file the charges again if prosecutors discover evidence that “materially strengthens” their case.

All content © 2008 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

The Wichita Eagle – By Ron Sylvester

Chad and Shannon Floyd have something to be thankful for next week: They won’t face murder charges. he husband and wife are set to meet with a judge in Johnson City on Monday to sign a final order of dismissal in a murder case against them that’s dragged on for three years, through two trials that both ended without a verdict.

No one has ever found the body of Michael Golub, 27. Golub was a former boyfriend of Shannon Floyd and they were involved in a custody dispute over their son when Golub disappeared on May 20, 2005. The Floyds said he never showed up to get the boy that night. His pickup was found six days later on a county road in northwest Grant County.

Prosecutors Richard Guinn and Barry Disney for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office claimed Chad and Shannon Floyd shot Golub when he came to pick up his son. Prosecutors said the custody battle was interfering with plans for the Floyds to move to Montana. The couple purchased a gun that same day, and investigators found Golub’s blood had dripped between the planks on the Floyd’s front porch. Prosecutors said Chad Floyd had told a friend he’d pay Golub $50,000 to drop the case and said he wished Golub would disappear.

Lawyers Dan Monnat and Kurt Kerns of Wichita argued for the defense that there were people near the Floyds’ house that night who would have heard the gunshots — but didn’t — and that a different friend of theirs showed up unexpectedly when the killing was supposedly taking place.

They also suggested that Golub’s role as an informant in a local drug case led to his disappearance. Adding to the rural courtroom drama: The Floyds are an affluent family that owns a chain of banks in the western part of Kansas and in eastern Colorado.

Under the terms of the dismissal, the state can file the charges again if prosecutors discover evidence that “materially strengthens” their case.

All content © 2008 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

The Wichita Eagle – By Rob Sylvester