Media interest continues to increase after 3-year drought of coverage
By Cheryl Sullenger
Philadelphia, PA – On the third day of jury deliberations in the Kermit Gosnell abortion-murder trial, the focus of the jury remains on co-defendant Eileen O’Neill, a former employee that masqueraded as a licensed physician at Gosnell’s “House of Horrors” abortion clinic.
According to in-court reports from local news reporters who have staked out seats during what may prove to be a long and tedious jury watch, the jury has sent out repeated requests to review testimony and other evidence related to charges against O’Neill submitted during the trial that is now in its seventh week.
O’Neill faces 8 counts of Theft by Deception for billing for services while presenting herself as a licensed physician, when she held no such license and Conspiracy related to Corrupt Organizations.
O’Neill is an unlicensed medical school graduate who has worked in the abortion industry since 1998. She began with a two-year stint at the notoriously troubled Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Delta has a long history going back at least to 1998 of violations and filthy conditions of a similar nature found at Gosnell’s “house of horrors” in Philadelphia. Two women, Ingar Weber and Shelia Hebert, are known to have died from botched abortions they received at Delta.
O’Neill told the Philadelphia grand jury that her work at the Delta Clinic was a “side job” while she was living in Texas and that she had relinquished a medical license she held in Louisiana due to what she called “post traumatic stress,” which speaks volumes about her time at Delta and her mental state as she began work with Gosnell.
Today, the jury asked to review testimony from one of O’Neill’s abortion patients, Lisa Dungee, who testified that she received an abortion by pill from O’Neill in 2009 at Gosnell’s Women’s Medical Society without the state mandated 24-hour informed consent waiting period. Dungee said she never saw Gosnell at the clinic at the time she received her abortion pills, an important point since O’Neill could not legally practice in his absence. She indicated that she never returned to the clinic for a follow-up appointment due to the filthy conditions she observed, choosing instead to follow-up care with her own physician.
The jury has previously asked the court for definitions of some of the charges O’Neill faces and to review other testimony and evidence, including the floor chart depicting the maze of cramped rooms and hallways that comprised Gosnell’s squalid building located at 3801 Lancaster Avenue.
So far, all the jury questions have focused on O’Neill, indicating that they have yet to deal with the hundreds of charges against Gosnell. O’Neill’s charges were the first ones listed on a 30-page jury form.
As the jury watch continues, more news media continue to be attracted to the case, which was virtually ignored for the first three weeks of testimony until pro-life conservatives shamed them into coverage during a 24-hour “tweetfest” that trended at the top of the Twitter charts for a day and a half. Several news trucks have camped out near the courtroom waiting for the verdict, which now may not come until next week at the earliest, given the current speed of deliberations.
Operation Rescue was the first pro-life group publish accounts directly from the courtroom.
HT: @JDMullane, @SeanGOSullivan, and @phillydotcom.
Gosnell Trial Archives
Jury Deliberations Begin in “House of Horrors” Murder Case Impassioned Closing Arguments Stir Emotions in Gosnell Trial Gosnell Defense Rests Without A Witness as Judge Clarifies Murder Charge Dismissal Shocker: Gosnell Judge Dismissed 3 Murder Charges, Five Remain Common Abortion Abuses Reflected in Gosnell Abortion Patient Testimony Powerful Testimony of Horrific Abortion Abuses Ends Prosecution Case in Gosnell Murder Trial Prosecution: Files Show Evidence of Illegal Late-Term Abortions by Gosnell Family of Dead Abortion Patient Give Tearful Testimony at Gosnell Murder Trial Carnage: Grisly Testimony and Photos of Aborted Baby Remains Dominate Gosnell Trial #Gosnell ‘Tweet-Up’ Grabs Attention As Grisly Murder Trial Continues Dead or Alive: Gosnell Defense Floats Theory That Babies were Dead When Necks Were Snipped Mental Illness Plagued Gosnell Employees Who ‘Snipped’ Baby’s Necks Gosnell Witness Recants Guilty Plea, Still Testifies of Abortion Horrors Exception or Rule? Gosnell’s “House of Horrors” Not So Rare Gosnell Employee: ‘It would rain fetuses. Fetuses and blood all over the place’ Gosnell Sister-in-Law Emotionally Testifies of Mongar Death, Disposal of Bloody Remains Aborted Babies Dramatically Testify Against Gosnell at Murder Trial Homicide Determination in Abortion Death Sparks Outburst, Anger at Gosnell Murder Trial Fight Breaks Out At Gosnell Murder Trial State Inspector’s Horrific Discoveries at Gosnell’s Abortion Clinic Described In Court Prosecution Reconstructs Abortion Room in Court for Gosnell Murder Trial Abortionist Gosnell Rejects Plea Deal, Jury Selection Underway in Capital Murder Case Jury Selection to Begin in Murder Case of Abortionist that Snipped Newborn’s Spinal Cords
Documents
Read the full Grand Jury Report
View photos of Gosnell’s victims
View the Gosnell gang’s mug shots and description of charges