Birdsong's Law Blog

An activist abortion opponent was convicted of first degree murder and is awaiting sentencing for the killing of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.

This case will be used to help you learn how to allocute.

Scott Roeder, 51, was  recently convicted by a jury in Wichita, Kansas of first degree murder.  Facts at trial revealed that Dr. George Tiller was a noted abortion provider.  His clinic in Wichita, Kansas was the only clinic in a several state area of the Midwest that provided late term abortions to women whose health problems prevented them from delivering a child.

Evidence further revealed that on Sunday, May 31, 2009, Scott Roeder entered Wichita’s Reformation Lutheran Church at the beginning of the 10 am service.  He then used a  handgun to shoot Dr. Tiller as he handed out church

Janet Mercereau, 40, is awaiting sentencing after having been found guilty by a jury of second degree murder of her husband Douglas Mercereau.

We will use this case to help you learn how to allocute.

Evidence at trial revealed that  Janet Mercereau had shot Douglas Mercereau, 38, a fire marshal, three times in the head as he slept in their bed on December 2, 2008.

Prosecutors argued that Janet had grown to hate her husband during their troubled, 12 year marriage in which the couple fought bitterly over her weight problem.  Janet  had weighed  only105 pounds when they married but had ballooned up to 265 pounds at the time of the murder.  The couple had two children, both girls, aged 7 and 8.