Dan Monnat, who represents Tiller, called the request to leave the allegations unanswered “zany” during Thursday’s hearing, drawing an objection from assistant attorney general Barry Disney.
“After the defense has shown its hand, the state wants to renege on its agreement, play by a different set of rules and hide its hand,” Monnat said.
Kline also tried to orchestrate a raid by law enforcement on Tiller’s Wichita clinic to seize the medical records of women who sought abortions there, attorneys Dan Monnat and Lee Thompson said in their pleadings.
Dan Monnat, one of the lawyers who represents Tiller, said he expects arguments to continue over the abortion records from Tiller’s Women’s Health Care Services clinic, which led to the charges.
A trial date for George Tiller will likely be set Tuesday, his lawyers said today, after a judge refused to dismiss 19 misdemeanor charges against the Wichita abortion provider.
But lawyer Dan Monnat said this afternoon that any trial would follow hearings over the legality of how the Kansas Attorney General’s Office obtained the women’s abortion records from Tiller’s clinic that led to the charges against him.
Dan Monnat, one of the attorneys representing Tiller, said redacting the medical records is a “time-consuming process” for the law offices and the clinic.
“We are not trying to run out the clock,” Monnat said. “We are trying to timely comply with the court’s order while at the same time guaranteeing the privacy of the patients to the degree permitted by the court’s orders.”
Dan Monnat, a lawyer on Tiller’s legal team, said the repeated attempts against Tiller ultimately cost the public.
“It’s unfortunate for the taxpayers of the state of Kansas who again and again have to endure the expense of these investigations over someone else’s political agenda,” he said.
“The Kansas Supreme Court today put the brakes on runaway grand juries,” said Dan Monnat, a Wichita lawyer representing Tiller.
Dan Monnat, a Wichita lawyer representing Tiller, said the Wichita grand jury went too far in January when it subpoenaed five years’ worth of clinic records for 2,000 women who had sought abortions after their 21st week of pregnancy.
“We are very pleased that the highest court of the state views the privacy rights of women patients so protectively as to undertake a careful examination of the important issues involved,” said Dan Monnat, one of the attorneys representing the clinic.
Dan Monnat, a Wichita attorney, said Six’s request to the Supreme Court is encouraging.
“Dr. Tiller’s foremost concern is always protection of his patients,” Monnat said in a statement. “Dr. Tiller is pleased to hear the voice of the top law enforcement officer in the state join in his call for protection of patient privacy.”
