Please Support PRO-LIFE Free Republic!
Posted on 04/29/2013 10:25:22 AM PDT by Morgana
During closing arguments today in the murder trial of abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell, one of his staffers who pretended to be a doctor has asked the judge to be acquitted.
O’Neill is on trial with Gosnell on charges of theft by Deception, Conspiracy to commit theft, Racketeering, Conspiracy related to corruption, Perjury, and False Swearing. Today in the closing arguments, the attorney for Gosnell co-defendant Eileen O’Neill requested an acquittal and said there is no crime called “practicing medicine without a license.”
During her time working at Gosnell’s “House of Horrors” abortion clinic, O’Neill deceived patients into thinking she was a licensed physician or at least some kind of licensed medical staffer.
Lisa Dungee was a patient at Gosnell’s Women’s Medical Society in 2009. She saw unlicensed medical school graduate Eileen O’Neill, who is also standing trial along with her former boss, for an early non-surgical abortion. Dungee testified that she never received counseling prior to her abortion. She admitted that she signed a form indicating that she had been given informed consent 24 hours prior to the abortion, but was adamant that she signed the forms on the same day her abortion began.
“When I came in to the facility, I already had my mind made up about what I wanted to do, so yes, I signed it,” she testified.
Dungee testified that she thought O’Neill was a licensed physician because she wore a white coat and had certificates on the wall of her office. No one ever told her that O’Neill held no valid medical license.
According to Dungee, O’Neill gave her one pill to take at the clinic and one pill to take later at home along with a prescription for antibiotics. She said she never saw Gosnell at the clinic, who should have been consulted before drugs were prescribed.
Dungee never returned to O’Neill for her follow-up appointment due to the filthy conditions at the clinic. Instead she saw her own physician for follow-up care. Dungee insisted under oath that O’Neill nor anyone else from the clinic, called to see how she was doing, even though O’Neill noted in the records that such a follow-up call had been placed.
Another point of interest in Dungee’s testimony was introduced by O’Neill’s defense attorney, James Berardinelli. Berardinelli insisted that since Dungee did not actually expel her four-week baby until 24 hours after she took the first abortion pill, then the 24-hour waiting period had been observed.
During the trial,
Natalie Tursi was allowed to testify for the defense because she was scheduled for back surgery the following day and would not be available to testify afterwards for medical reasons.
Tursi was a friend of Eileen O’Neill’s who arrived for a visit at her home while she was being interviewed by law enforcement personnel. Tursi also is the on-and-off live-in girlfriend of O’Neill’s brother.
Tursi testified that she arrived at O’Neill’s home and walked into the kitchen where O’Neill and four men were talking. She immediately felt unwelcome, so she retreated to the living room, and later the bathroom due to the “confrontational” nature of the conversation. She testified that she overheard only bits and pieces of the kitchen conversation, but recalled hearing one man tell O’Neill that if she ever wanted to practice medicine or obtain a medical license, “You will be a witness.”
However, upon cross-examination by Assistant District Attorney Ed Cameron, Tursi admitted she conveniently did not hear other statements reportedly made by O’Neill to the men, including the admission that she ducked out the back door during the police raid on the clinic in 2010, fearing she would be in trouble since she did not have a license to practice medicine. Cameron also indicated that O’Neill made the statement to law enforcement interviewers that about seventy-five percent of what she did at Gosnell’s clinic was done in Gosnell’s absence, indicating that she had no physician oversight as she conducted the duties of a licensed physician. The conclusion was that Tursi’s memory was selective, at best.
In a surprising moment, Cameron asked if O’Neill had an attorney present during questioning. Tursi indicated that O’Neill did not. She offered that while O’Neill is very book smart, “common-sense wise, I don’t think she has it.”
“You are saying she doesn’t have common sense?” asked Cameron for emphasis.
“No. I’m sorry to say it,” she replied.
Mary Kincade had been a patient at Gosnell’s Women’s Medical Society clinic for about ten years and was last seen five to six years ago. She said she only saw Eileen O’Neill, who other clinic workers referred to as “Doctor” even though she had no license to practice in Pennsylvania. Kincade was not an abortion patient, but saw O’Neill for yearly well woman exams. Kincade never saw Gosnell at the clinic during any of her visits.
Kincade thought O’Neill was a licensed physician and noted that certificates hung on the wall of her office, which led her to believe they allowed her to practice medicine.
There was a discrepancy in Kincade’s patient file concerning co-payments for office visits. Kincade testified that she remitted a co-pay of $30-40 each time she saw O’Neill. However, in her file, there was only one receipt for $40 to indicate she ever paid any money. The inference of this testimony was that there were irregularities in the billing and record-keeping practices at Gosnell’s clinic, although prosecutors did not fully detail their theory concerning what appeared to be evidence of financial malfeasance during today’s court proceedings.
I have to wonder if they will let Gosnell off and throw her under the bus?
Who wants to make bets on it?
From what I have read of this case the whole staff needs to be locked up, and most of the clients who signed to murder their children —locked up with them.
There isn’t an innocent human being in this whole nasty business.
We put the clients in jail until we abolish Roe vs wade.
as for the staff, yes some jail time is in order but Gosnell needs to do the most time. He was the doctor and the buck stopped with him.
there is: I don't know the exact term of the law but it has to do with medical fraud with intent to defraud and to cause harm. This is true: I have a family member via marriage that spent ten years in prison after being convicted of passing himself off as a doctor and practicing medicine without a valid license. That was in the 1970s.
I have a nagging fear the worst Gosnell is going to walk with an involuntary manslaughter conviction, with a fine and probation.
nagging fear the worst=nagging fear
I don’t agree with that.
Gosnell was as bad as Doctor Mengele, but the Staff was as bad as Mengele’s concentraation camp Guards.
Gosnell should get the death penalty and the others should serve hard time.The idiots that went there to termnate their childrens lives will have to live with themselves I suppose, I certainly hope and pray they learned their lesson and think the next time they screw anything that walks without contraception.
Who pretended to be a doctor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.