PHILADELPHIA – Closing arguments in the Gosnell murder trial are set for Monday, when defense attorney Jack McMahon will present the case for the defense first and prosecutor Ed Cameron will sum up the prosecution's case, likely in the afternoon session.
The defense surprised a packed courtroom last Wednesday by resting the defense's case without calling a single witness in abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell's defense.
McMahon told the reporters who surrounded him at the end of the trial phase, "It is what it is. We didn't call any witnesses. We couldn't call any witnesses."
McMahon added, "We did it for strategic reasons."
The judge's gag order on the trial prevented McMahon from saying what those "strategic reasons" may be.
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WND reported last Wednesday that trial judge Jeffrey Minehart admitted that he had made a mistake by dismissing the murder charge over Baby "C" and reinstated the charge.
Baby "C" is the baby that clinic staff members testified was too big for the "shoebox" he was put into and who clinic workers all say was seen breathing for 20 minutes before he died.
Baby "C" was the subject of debate last Tuesday during the motion-to-dismiss phase.
The defense argued that all charges should be dropped, saying, "It's ridiculous to say a baby is alive just because you see it move."
But in testimony the previous week, clinic staff member Kareema Cross told the court that she saw Baby "C" move and breathe. Voluntary movement and respirations are two of the criteria Pennsylvania's abortion law requires for evidence that a baby is born alive.
Cross testified that she believed the baby was unusually large.
"She delivered, and the baby came out big, about 12-16 inches. He came out, and Dr. Gosnell put him in a box, a plastic box. But the baby was so big his arms and legs hung out of the box," Cross said. "Dr. Gosnell took the box from the room. After this, the baby pulled his arms together.
"Dr. Gosnell took pictures, then he snapped the baby's neck," Cross said. "Dr. Gosnell said that this baby was so big he could have walked me to the bus stop."
During cross examination by Gosnell's defense attorney, Cross remained firm in her testimony about Baby "C."
In a review of the photographs Cross took, McMahon asked to see the photo of Baby "C." The photo showed a baby too large to fit into the plastic box.
As WND reported, during the course of the Gosnell trial, "startling" details about the sanitation and conditions at the clinic were discovered in testimony.
The list includes:
- Rusty and filthy abortion equipment has been brought into the courtroom to document unsanitary conditions;
- Medical records appear to have blood and other stains on them;
- Gosnell's staff acted as though they were doctors, even though some had little or no medical training;
- Medications, including anesthetics, found in the office had expired years earlier;
- A defense attorney blamed the woman, Bhutan immigrant Karnamaya Mongar, for her own death, since she left several blanks on her medical form. Prosecutors said she spoke little English and likely was unaware she needed to provide information;
- Patients appeared to repeatedly get overdoses of drugs for their abortion procedures, including Mongar;
- Photographs of the bodies of babies, revealed gaping wounds in the back of their necks. According to testimony, Gosnell or staff members routinely snipped their spinal cords to make sure they were dead. Operation Rescue said: "The babies were all intact and had the appearance of being partially mummified or dried. The brownish-black skin had shrunk as it dried, revealing the upper spinal column that authorities say was pierced with scissors in order to snip the spinal cords of newborn babies born alive during abortions by Gosnell";
- Photographs were introduced of babies' feet, or even whole legs, Gosnell had preserved in jars.
Barring any new motions, the jury is expected to get the case on Tuesday.
This case goes to the jury at the same time that Life News is reporting an undercover video at a Bronx abortion clinic reveals a worker telling a woman whose baby was born in a botched abortion to flush the remains down the toilet.
The pro-life group Live Action released the video on its website. Live Action Founder and President Lila Rose says Gosnell is not an anomaly.
"Dr. Kermit Gosnell is not an aberration," Rose said in the Life News report. "The gruesome and brutal practices exposed in Gosnell's 'House of Horrors' are business as usual for the abortion industry in America. Nationwide, it's just another day at the office."