The trial of Wichita abortionist Dr. George Tiller got underway Monday with arguments, opening statements and the apparently reluctant testimony of the state’s star witness.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanor counts of performing late term abortions after obtaining a second opinion from a doctor with whom he has had an improper legal or financial affiliation, and the proceedings began with attorneys on both sides debating what the jury should be instructed about what constitutes such an illegal relationship.

In a 20-minute opening statement, prosecutor Barry Disney told the jurors that Tiller had “become so intertwined” with the consulting physician, Dr. Kristin Neuhaus, that it was essentially a employer-employee relationship. 

Disney told the jurors the question that must be decided was a narrow one. He told the jury the only thing they needed to decide was whether a financial relationship existed between Tiller and Neuhaus. Kansas statutes require there be no association between two physicians who agree a late-term abortion is justified under the law.

Noting that Neuhaus had greeted Tiller with a hug outside the courtroom, Disney promised the evidence would show that Neuhaus had been provided a car by Tiller, that she had her attorneys meet with his to discuss their business arrangement, that Tiller’s attorneys wrote the forms she used to confirm the diagnoses that the patients’ health was threatened by continuing their pregnancies, and that she used Tiller’s office, equipment and staff. He further argued that by 2003 she was a “full-time consultant” to Tiller with no other job or source of income and no office of her own.

Disney predicted that the defense would offer “excuses rather than defenses. An excuse is why the law was violated. A defense is that the law was not violated.”

Monnat's opening statement was 90-minutes long and began, “Dr. Tiller is innocent. Far from thinking that he is above the law, he has done everything he can to be in compliance.”

Much of Monnat's opening statement was taken up with an account of Tiller's family history and the often raucous protests that have routinely dogged his practice and the violent attacks he had suffered.

Describing Neuhaus as a woman “brave enough and caring enough to provide a second opinion,” Monnat gave a heroic account of her career, much of which has been devoted to working in abortion clinics, and her personal life, including the care she gave her diabetic son. Monnat noted that Neuhaus is the daughter of prominent Wichita attorney C. Warner Eisenbise and said she had acted on sound legal advice that her relationship with Tiller was within the law.

Monnat also argued that Tiller had been advised to work with Neuhaus by State Board of Healing Arts attorney Larry Buening. Neuhaus denies any such conversation took place and the judge has indicated he may exclude the claim since a defense based on faulty advice is rarely admissable.

After a lunch break, defense attorney Lee Thompson - a former U.S. Attorney and one-time Republican congressional nominee, as well as a longtime counsel to Tiller - asked that the judge dismiss the charges on the ground that the evidence the prosecution had described was insufficient to prove the case. Owens declined to uphold the motion.

Neuhaus appeared as a witness for the prosecution, but was clearly reluctant to provide evidence against Tiller. She said she had been granted immunity against any possible charges arising from the case in return for her testimony. Offering mostly succinct yes or no answers whenever possible, Neuhaus said she had first met Tiller during a tour of his clinic for other doctors, and had later met him briefly “through work in the field.”

Disney asked if she became a full-time consultant to Tiller starting in 2003, and when she answered “no,” he showed her deposition testimony where she used that very term.

Disney's examination of Neuhaus was sometimes contentious. However, he succeeded in getting Neuhaus to admit that Tiller provided her with working space, security and even coffee. When Disney asked if Neuhaus had ever paid rent for her use of Tiller’s clinic, she shot back, “No, and I didn’t pay for the toilet paper or coffee, either.”

Asked if she considered Tiller a friend, Neuhaus said, “We’re on friendly terms, but as far as seeing each other outside the office, that would never happen.” Disney also questioned Neuhaus about documents with stickers showing both her name and Tiller’s, about her contact with Tiller’s lawyers, and about a car she had purchased from Tiller.

In cross-examination, in which Monnat again explained Neuhaus' successful educational background, was comparatively friendly. Monnat said the car she had purchased was a 12-year-old Toyota Camry with an estimated value of $300.

About 20 pro-life activists stood outside the courthouse in the howling wind with red tape marked “life” across their mouths. Another dozen or so pro-life activists were watching intently inside the courtroom. Media coverage was surprisingly light.

The trial resumes tomorrow.

- Bud Norman

The Week in Review