Abortion Foes Seek ‘Necessity Defense’ at Trial

The leader of a militant anti-abortion group and four of his followers, facing trial for blockading a women’s clinic, tried to convince a Los Angeles judge Monday that they were forced to commit their crimes to prevent the murders of unborn children.

But Municipal Judge Richard Paez expressed early reservations about allowing the so-called “necessity defense” on arguments that the Operation Rescue protesters tried to stop “murders” at a Los Angeles clinic during demonstrations last Easter Week.

In a courtroom jammed with about 50 anti-abortion activists, Paez told Randall A. Terry, 30, leader of the anti-abortion group, and his four co-defendants that, under U.S. Supreme Court rulings and state law, “women do have a right to abortion.”

The judge was expected to rule on the matter today, and then jury selection will begin.

The defendants have been charged with trespassing, resisting arrest, blocking the sidewalk, failing to disperse, violating court orders and criminal conspiracy counts stemming from the protest outside the Family Planning Center.

High Fines

Paez earlier Monday permitted Terry, co-defendant Michael McMonagle, 36, and Jeff White, 31, to represent themselves in what is expected to be a two- to three-week trial. If convicted, the defendants face fines as high as $10,000 each and a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

The other co-defendants, Andrew Eppink, 41, and Donald Bennette, 36, are being represented by attorneys.

In opposing the “necessity defense,” Deputy City Atty. Kjehl Johansen told the judge that the trial should constitute “an interesting but simple case of trespassing.”

“The defendants in this case believe that what is happening at clinics throughout the state, particularly in L.A., is that abortions that are going on constitute murder,” Johansen said.

“(But) using this courtroom . . . as a place to litigate abortion is not appropriate,” he said.

The defendants were among hundreds of anti-abortion activists arrested during the Easter week demonstrations in Southern California.

In addition to packing the courtroom, about 30 anti-abortion activists protested outside the downtown courthouse.

A few blocks away, a federal judge said Monday that he might consider appointing a special prosecutor to file criminal contempt charges against the anti-abortion activists who have repeatedly blocked clinics in violation of a court order.

Blocked Entrances

U.S. District Judge Wallace Tashima made his comments to American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Carol Sobel during a hearing in which Sobel sought civil contempt charges against 20 Operation Rescue activists, who allegedly blocked entrances to women’s clinics in several California cities.

Sobel, who is seeking only civil contempt charges against the activists, suggested during the hearing that criminal contempt charges may be warranted.

“The first thing you should do is take your complaint to the U.S. attorney,” Tashima told Sobel. “Ask them if they want to . . . prosecute any of the matters you want prosecuted.

“If they turn you down, then you can come back to the court and petition the court for the appointment of . . . in effect . . . special counsel to prosecute these matters.”

After the hearing, Sobel told reporters that the ACLU probably would not pursue criminal contempt charges but would send a transcript of Monday’s proceedings to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

Activists held in criminal contempt could face indefinite jail time, she said.

Eighteen demonstrators are on trial before Tashima on civil contempt charges, alleging that they defied a statewide court order by blocking entrances to women’s clinics in seven California cities during the Easter week protests. The March 2 court order instructed demonstrators to stay 15 feet from clinic entrances and prohibited them from harassing patients.

Next Week

Sobel said she expected the trial to end by next week and hoped that the judge would decide the case by the end of the month.

The ACLU is seeking unspecified monetary damages against those held in civil contempt.

The civil liberties group will seek civil contempt charges against 100 to 200 more “hard-core” activists in the next two weeks, she said.

“These people have arrest records from here to the end of the hall,” she said. “There is no one we’ve gone after who has not been arrested at least twice. Some have been arrested nine to 10 times.”