Jury hung on two counts in Philadelphia abortion trial

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A Philadelphia jury in its 10th day of deliberations told the judge on Monday that it was hung on two counts in the murder trial of a doctor accused of killing babies and a patient during late-term abortions at a clinic that served low-income women.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, who ran the now-closed Women's Medical Society Clinic, may face the death penalty if the jury in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia convicts him.

The seven-woman, five-man jury, after taking the weekend off, resumed deliberations at about 8:30 a.m. and sent out a handwritten note about 90 minutes later.

Judge Jeffrey Minehart read out the note, which said the jury was hung on two counts, but sent the panel back for further deliberations.

"It's a difficult case," he told the jurors.

Gosnell is charged with four counts of first-degree murder for delivering live babies during late-term abortions and then deliberately severing their spinal cords, prosecutors said.

He also faces charges that he performed 24 abortions after 24 weeks. It is legal in Pennsylvania to abort a fetus up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy.

In addition, he faces charges of conspiracy and more than 200 counts of violating the state's informed consent law, which mandates a 24-hour waiting period for an abortion.

The jury heard five weeks of testimony and has been deliberating since April 30.

Gosnell's defense says there is no evidence the babies were alive after they were aborted.

Testimony depicted a filthy clinic, serving mostly low-income women in a largely black community.

Gosnell is also charged with murdering Karnamaya Mongar, 41, of Virginia, who died from a drug overdose after going to him for an abortion, prosecutors said.

Gosnell has been in jail since his January 2011 arrest.

Eight other defendants have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges and are awaiting sentencing. They include Gosnell's wife, Pearl, a cosmetologist who helped perform abortions.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Sofina Mirza-Reid)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jury-deliberates-10th-day-philadelphia-abortion-doctor-trial-141926489.html

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