Finkel's Jury Deliberation Nearing County Record

Finkel Deliberations Nearing Record
Jurors will begin Day 14 today as they continue deliberating the fate of Dr. Brian Finkel, the high-profile abortion provider accused of sexually assaulting and abusing some of his patients. They are nearing a record. Nobody in the Maricopa County Superior Courthouse can recall a criminal trial jury going more than 17 days to reach a verdict, the mark set in 1995 by the jury debating the "AzScam" bribery scandal that rocked the Arizona Legislature. In the Finkel case, jurors began deliberating at the end of October, spending four days a week dissecting the charges presented against Finkel during three months of testimony. They took last week off. The jurors have to weigh the stories of a series of women who testified that Finkel twisted their nipples, kissed them or penetrated them with his fingers during examinations (54 counts). Eleanor Miller, a Phoenix defense attorney, said because the jury "didn't rush back with a guilty verdict is a good sign for the defendant, that they are carefully evaluating each count."

Taped Interview of Waagner Played to Jury
A rapt federal jury Wednesday listened to the recorded voice of Clayton Lee Waagner in a 2001 fugitive interview detailing how he mailed hundreds of clinics bogus anthrax threats. In a voice at times giddy with excitement, Waagner tells Neal Horsley, the operator of a Georgia-based antiabortion Internet site, that the anthrax threats were a "warning" to abortion providers to quit - or die. Federal prosecutors played the tape to the jury that since Nov. 19 has been hearing the government's consolidated case against Waagner in the 2001 threats mailed to 250 abortion providers and women's health clinics in 24 states.

Stephen Jordi Pleads Innocent
of Abortion Clinic Bomb Plot
MIAMI - A religious fundamentalist pleaded innocent Wednesday to bomb and weapons charges in an alleged plot to blow up abortion clinics, disloyal churches and gay bars. Stephen John Jordi, who was turned in by relatives and church members, faces a five-year mandatory sentence and up to 20 years if convicted of attempted firebombing. Prosecutors must prove that Jordi took substantial steps toward launching a bombing spree across the eastern United States. The indictment discarded the original charge of soliciting arson, which requires a higher standard of proof that Jordi tried to get someone, in this case an informant, to join the bomb plot. "They backed off what the criminal complaint said," Assistant Federal Public Defender Marc Seitles said outside court. "The government informant was the major player in inducing Mr. Jordi to act on his religious beliefs." Seitles maintains both the plot and the government's case is built on the questionable word of a paid informant and his client continuously said he didn't want to do anything illegal. The informant offered Jordi a plane ticket to Hill's execution and offered his family money if he went through with the attacks, according to the defense. Jordi's trial is expected to feature highlights from 120 hours of undisclosed audio tapes.

Baby's Body Found in B'klyn Church
The body of a lifeless newborn wrapped in a holiday shopping bag was found outside a Brooklyn church Saturday morning by an usher who was getting the parish ready for Mass. Police were called to the Resurrection Roman Catholic Church in Marine Park at 6:55 a.m. by the man who made the grim discovery, usher Jerry Demario, 71. Police declared the baby dead at the scene. Demario said medical personnel told him the baby was a female. He thought that the bag contained a clothing or food donation for the needy and looked inside. Instead, Demario said he saw five plastic bags covering a sheet, which was rolled around an object. "I unrolled the sheet and there was a baby," he said. "I saw the umbilical chord still attached." One police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that whoever dropped off the baby would likely face criminal charges.

Abortion Foes Pull Economic Strings
When Chris Danze, a construction contractor learned Planned Parenthood was going to build a clinic that would offer abortions, he knew his mission was to stop it. And he had a plan. Just before workers broke ground for the clinic in late September, Danze sent 750 letters to contractors in the Austin area asking them to boycott the job and tell others to do the same. By early November, Danze and other abortion opponents had flooded local construction firms with so many phone calls, e-mails and letters that the general contractor overseeing the clinic’s construction pulled out.

Bush's Medicaid Program Promotes Fornication
Feds to Provide Teens With Contraception
A new program in Wisconsin aims to give women ages 15-44, including students, access to free birth control. The Medicaid program, called the Family Planning Waiver, is a multi-million dollar federal aid package to expand access to reproductive health care to almost 50,000 low-income Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, 10 percent of women aged 15-44 have income under the federal poverty level, and 12 percent do not have private health insurance or Medicaid.

Number of Women With AIDS Growing
Woman believes a former boyfriend infected her. When she was "seeing" him, she thought she knew his background — she trusted him. "If I can get it, anybody can get it," she said. "I wasn't out 'seeing' every guy, but I still made a mistake." From 1981 to 2002, 5,357 AIDS cases have been reported in Oregon and 2,997 people have died from the disease. There has been an increasing number of women with the disease in Oregon. In 2002, there were 37 cases of women with AIDS out of the total of 286 cases. That's a significant increase compared to 22 cases in 2001. The number of HIV infections has also increased rapidly among black men.

Family Planning Targets Teens
Staff writer Keith Edwards recently spoke with George Hill, executive director of the Family Planning Association of Maine, to discuss the association, its programs, and current family planning issues. "At the State House, starting in January, we'll be introducing a bill that will essentially give increased access to emergency contraception. Opponents will describe it as like an abortion, but it's actually a postcoital contraceptive that is very effective in reducing the need for abortions. We're hopeful that it will pass. Apart from that, we're going to be fighting the usual raft of opposition."

Prescription Drug Deaths Escalate,
Drugging the Poor at Taxpayer Expense
FORT LAUDERDALE -- A small group of Florida doctors are drugging the poor at taxpayer expense and exploiting the Medicaid system by prescribing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of dangerous drugs, a newspaper reported Sunday. Regulators have largely failed to curb excesses in billing as pain-relief patches, sleeping pills, tranquilizers and other highly abused drugs have poured out of pharmacies over the past three years, feeding a booming black market and adding to a torrent of fatal overdoses.

Protesters Stage Vigil to Save Schiavo
PINELLAS PARK -- Their legal options nearly exhausted, family and supporters of a severely brain-damaged woman began an around-the-clock vigil Monday outside her hospice protesting the upcoming removal of her feeding tube at her husband's request. About 10 sign-toting demonstrators, organized by prominent conservative activist Randall Terry, began their vigil on the sidewalk at noon in front of Woodside Hospice, where Terri Schiavo lives in a vegetative state brought on by a 1990 heart attack.

Ark. Lawyer Sues State Over
Anti-Abortion License Plates
BENTONVILLE, Ark. - This fall, Arkansas began selling specialty license plates decorated with a crayon-like drawing of two children and the words "Choose Life." It was the latest in a string of coordinated victories for a Florida-based organization, Choose Life Inc., whose Web site says its license plate campaign allows drivers to "speak up for the unborn."

Study Shows Caesarean Increases Risk of Stillbirth
LONDON - Women who have their first baby by Caesarean section are at significantly higher risk of losing their next baby to an unexplained stillbirth before going into labor, according to a new study. An expert not associated with the study, published in The Lancet medical journal, said the research is important because it suggests hospitals that tend to do a lot of Caesareans might need to consider strategies to reduce them. The study, led by Gordon Smith of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Cambridge University, looked at 120,633 second births of single babies in Scotland.

Fishermen Cast Even More Doubt on Peterson Trip
Details about Scott Peterson's Christmas Eve fishing trip that emerged during his preliminary hearing left some already skeptical fishermen with more doubt. "None of his story made any sense," said Carl Costley of Oakdale, who has fished 35 years for huge, tough-skinned sturgeon. "It just doesn't hold water." Said Robert Kisner of Denair: "Pretty much any fisherman will tell you that guy didn't go out there fishing. It could be that he just didn't know what he was doing." When word spread about Peterson's solo excursion soon after his pregnant wife disappeared 11 months ago, Costley and Kisner, among others, frowned.

Peterson Borrows $100,000 from
Parents, Uses House as Security
Scott Peterson, who is awaiting trial in Modesto for the murders of his wife and unborn son, used his home as collateral for a $100,000 loan from his parents, according to a report in The Modesto Bee. It's not clear how the money will be used, but legal experts believe it will likely help pay for Peterson's defense. If convicted, he could receive the death penalty.

Report: Amber Frey Is Pregnant
MODESTO, Calif. -- Amber Frey, the former mistress of Scott Peterson and a key witness in his prosecution for the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn child, is also expecting a baby, according to a report Thursday by Fox News. Citing sources close to Frey, Fox News' Rita Crosby reported that the former massage therapist was four months pregnant and that Peterson was not the father of the child.

Dad Faces Charges of Shaking Infant Son
A new Brockton father will be arraigned this morning on charges he shook his 8-week-old baby boy so hard he nearly killed him on the spot, authorities said. Shawn Hudson, 21, has been held since his arrest Friday at the hospital, where he was visiting his son. ``The child is critical and may not recover,'' Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said yesterday. Cruz said a preliminary review of Aidyn's injuries shows them to be consistent with shaken baby syndrome.

Jury Selection Begins in Controversial Murder Trial
DANIELSON -- With a murder trial slated for January, jury selection is expected to start Tuesday in the case a Plainfield man charged in the shooting death of his pregnant ex-girlfriend. Michael Latour, 26, of 176 Linnel Road is charged in the New Year's Eve 2001 shooting death of Jenny McMechen, 24, of Brooklyn. McMechen, who was nine months pregnant at the time of the shooting, was found with two gunshot wounds at a friend's home in Plainfield. Arrested on Jan. 2, 2002, Latour faces more than 25 years in prison if convicted on charges of murder and criminal possession of a firearm. McMechen's mother, Debbie Florence of Brooklyn, enlisted the help of state legislators in a nearly two-year fight for the passage of a law that would have also held Latour responsible for the death of McMechen's unborn son. But the law would not apply to Latour's case since it was passed after his arrest.

Is Threat of Death Penalty Misused?
It's been almost eight years since Calvin Shane Myers admitted to stabbing his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Irene Christensen, at least a dozen times with a rusty hunting knife and leaving her to die in a Summit County snowbank, killing his unborn son in the process. Yet, early next month, his attorney will argue before the Utah Supreme Court that Summit County prosecutors overcharged Myers in order to force a quick resolution to the case.

Premees Die from Intravenous Vitamin E, Hospital
Cover-Up, Federal Lawsuit, FDA: 'Kay Sera Sera'
Rachel Eskew died March 20, 1984. Doctors initially told her mother Jacque Gibson White that the cause of death was kidney and heart failure for unknown reasons. Two years later, the hospital learned that Rachel was among dozens of premature babies nationwide who died after being given E-Ferol Aqueous Solution, an intravenous vitamin E preparation intended to help prevent blindness. But the hospital didn't notify White of the finding. In fact, it would be 11 more years before she learned why her daughter died. Many other hospitals, perhaps fearing costly lawsuits, also kept families in the dark about the potential link between the deaths or disabilities of their babies and the administration of E-Ferol, which had been marketed without the approval of the Food and Drug Administration. Now, a federal lawsuit is aiming to force hospitals to disclose the link. At issue is whether hospitals must contact former patients or their families after it is discovered that some aspect of their care may have harmed them.

Morgentaler Closes Halifax Abortion Clinic
HALIFAX - Dr. Henry Morgentaler says he has closed his Halifax abortion clinic because women now have adequate access to the procedure at local hospitals. The closure was announced late Friday without warning in a brief news release. Morgentaler said the clinic is no longer needed because the same abortion techniques are being used at the QEII Health Sciences Centre by a doctor he trained.

French Row Over Rights for Unborn
French feminists, doctors and the leftwing opposition reacted furiously after the conservative majority in parliament passed a bill making it a crime to cause a pregnant woman to miscarry against her will. A Socialist MP, Jean-Yves Le Bouillon, said the bill was "the first step towards calling into question a woman's right to abortion, because it gives the foetus a legal status".

French Draft Amendment on Unborn
Children Stokes Abortion Acrimony
PARIS - Women's rights campaigners and opposition politicians heaped criticism Friday on the ruling UMP party after lawmakers rushed measures through parliament that critics fear could be a first step toward banning abortion.

Clones Perfect Until Late in Development
Comparing cloned and non-cloned embryos has revealed that problems responsible for cloning's dismal success rate must occur late in the developmental process. Researchers at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania examined how eggs communicate with chromosomes to gain insight into why just about two percent of cloned mammal embryos develop, and why cloned animals are so often unhealthy.

Babies in Siberian Space Scare
Toxic fuel dropped on parts of Siberia during space launches may be poisoning unborn children, Russian TV reports. The Altai region lies beneath the flight paths of the Russian space agency's sites at Plesetsk in northern Russia and Baikonur in Kazakhstan. The agency itself does not acknowledge any link between the fuel and the phenomenon of "yellow babies". The best-known instance of the effect of heptyl on Altai villagers happened 14 years ago when a whole generation of jaundiced, or "yellow", babies were born, said Lev Panin, who heads the Siberian biochemical institute of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. "The women who gave birth in 1989... had yellow babies who had their yellow period for about a month, six weeks or two months."

New Future For Frozen Embryos
Each of the 400,000 frozen embryos stored in liquid nitrogen at fertility clinics around the country would have a chance to be born if family practitioner David Stevens had anything to say about it. Stevens, executive director of the Christian Medical Association, believes that, even in their microscopic state, the embryos are human beings left in limbo. Stevens and his colleagues at the Christian association developed the National Embryo Donation Center to offer an alternative. The center will match people who create leftover embryos with couples seeking parenthood, in a process akin to adoption.

Ban Imposed on IVF Egg Giving
LONDON -- IVF watchdogs have ruled out a scheme that would allow women to have cheap treatment if they are prepared to do it twice and donate half their eggs. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) says that "egg giving" means a woman risks her health by having extra treatment for financial reasons. They have written to clinics forbidding them from setting up such programmes. "Egg sharing", in which eggs from one treatment are divided between donor and a second woman, are safer, they say.

Constitutional ‘Grey Areas’ May Allow Embryo Research
Research using human embryos could be carried out in Ireland as there is no legislation in place to prevent this, the Government has admitted in a document to the European Union. However, banning such research could also mean banning in-vitro fertilisation treatment and the morning after pill.

Posted by Editor at December 1, 2003 08:24 AM