More Testimony Sought in Gosnell Abortion Clinic Trial

Jurors request to hear second employee's testimony in murder trial

After re-hearing four hours worth of testimony from a former employee of Dr. Kermit Gosnell Wednesday, jurors deliberating murder charges against the former abortion doctor would like to hear a second employee’s sworn comments.

Now in their eighth day of deliberations in the murder trial, the jury requested to hear the testimony of Adrienne Moton. The 35-year-old was the first employee to testify in the trial and cried on the stand.

The jury is interested in hearing Moton's testimony regarding a baby that was delivered into a toilet inside the West Philadelphia clinic, Women's Medical Society. Moton described how the baby seemed to struggle in the toilet before she snipped its neck with scissors.

Moton also took a picture of one of the babies Gosnell is accused of murdering. Referred in court as Baby A, Moton says the boy was nearly 30 weeks old when he was aborted. Pennsylvania law prohibits abortions beyond 24-weeks.

She claims Gosnell even joked about the baby’s size saying he was so big the baby could have walked to the bus stop.

Gosnell faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of four babies. He is accused of delivering the babies alive and then killing them by cutting their spinal cords. Prosecutors say Gosnell regularly performed late-term abortions at his clinic.

The 72-year-old is also charged with third-degree murder in the death of 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar. A native of Bhutan and resident of Virginia, Mongar died during a 2009 abortion procedure. Prosecutors say she was given a lethal dose of pain killers and anesthesia.

On Wednesday, jurors heard more than 200 pages of testimony from Lynda Williams, the woman who administered those drugs to Mongar. Williams acted as the clinic’s anesthesiologist, even though she had no certification or formal training and simply an 8th grade education. She already pled guilty to third-degree murder.

Moton has pled guilty to third-degree murder as well, in turn for her testimony against Gosnell. She told the court she had snipped the spinal cords of 10 fetuses during her time at the clinic.

The woman said snipping was a "common practice" at the clinic. She faces 60-120 years in prison for her crimes.

Jurors spent about three hours listening to Moton's testimony Thursday before returning to deliberations around 2:45 p.m. They finished for the day about an hour later without a verdict.

Jack McMahon, Gosnell’s defense attorney, has said his client never delivered a baby alive. He said Gosnell used the drug Digoxin to stop the babies hearts in the womb before they were delivered.

If found guilty of first-degree murder, Gosnell faces the death penalty.

Deliberations will continue for a ninth day on Friday.


Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.

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