Abortion doctor killer case warning

Attorneys defending the killer of a US abortion provider could face "a formidable and daunting...

Attorneys defending the killer of a US abortion provider could face "a formidable and daunting task", the judge in the case said.

Judge Warren Wilbert warned them of difficulties if Scott Roeder, who confessed to the killing, is hoping for a lesser sentence by arguing he sincerely believed his actions were necessary to save unborn children.

Roeder will testify on his own behalf, attorney Steve Osburn said after a hearing about which defence evidence jurors can hear.

Roeder, 51, of Missouri, is charged with premeditated, first-degree murder in the May 31 shooting of Dr George Tiller, one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers. He is also charged with two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly using a gun to threaten two ushers who tried to stop him after the shooting.

Attorney Mark Rudy said the defence would build a case based on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, defined in Kansas as "an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force."

A voluntary manslaughter conviction for someone with little criminal history carries a sentence of about five years, compared with the life sentence Roeder faces if convicted of first-degree murder.

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