Tiller’s defense attorneys, Lee Thompson and Dan Monnat, issued a statement Friday denouncing the grand jury investigation as a “grandstand for anti-choice zealots” when told by the AP of the testimony and binders.
“Hopefully the grand jurors will very quickly see that this proceeding is a political witch hunt brought by a few people who disagree with a woman’s constitutional right to choose, decide not to squander taxpayer money on it and go home,” said Wichita attorney Dan Monnat, who represents Tiller.
“We feel it is a completely politically motivated and completely unnecessary expenditure of taxpayer dollars,” Tiller’s attorneys, Dan Monnat and Lee Thompson, said in a written statement Monday.
The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that a Sedgwick County grand jury investigation into a doctor who performs late-term abortions can go forward.
The ruling, issued Thursday, dismissed a petition filed last month by Dr. George Tiller, one of the nation’s few physicians who performs late-term abortions. He challenged the legality of the grand jury proceedings.
The state’s highest court says a Sedgwick County grand jury created by a citizen petition drive led by abortion foes can proceed with its investigation of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few physicians in the nation who performs late-term abortions.
Tiller’s lawyer, Dan Monnat, said that politics, not the law, is the driving force against Tiller. He said the lawmakers at Friday’s conference “get re-elected by fomenting opposition to a woman’s right to choose.”
A Sedgwick County District Court judge heard arguments, but did not rule, on whether the prosecution of a Wichita abortion provider is constitutional.
A lawyer for Wichita abortion provider George Tiller began presented arguments this afternoon, asking a Judge Clark Owens to dismiss the misdemeanor criminal charges against the doctor.
The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday blocked plans to seat a grand jury next week to investigate the activities of Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.
“We will not start a grand jury on Tuesday as scheduled,” Sedgwick County Chief Judge Michael Corrigan said.
Corrigan said the Supreme Court granted an indefinite stay in the proceedings so it can consider a variety of legal issues raised in a legal petition filed by Tiller’s attorneys.
“This is just another attempt to dredge up the dismissed case peddled by Phill Kline,” said attorney Dan Monnat. “Dr. Tiller has fought for years to protect the privacy of the women’s medical files. It’s sad that once again, these women have to continue to wonder whether the content of their files is going to be exploited for political gain.”
“His depiction of this is false, and it sounds like the law firm of Tiller, Monnat and Morrison has been working overtime,” Kline said.
“It sounds like they spent more time investigating me than anybody else.”
