Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell has been convicted on three counts of first-degree murder for severing the spinal cords of infants born during abortions at his clinic, and one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar, the Washington Post reports.
Prosecutors described the clinic as a “house of horrors” because of the unsanitary conditions and unsafe practices that defined it.
The trial now moves into a sentencing phase to decide whether Gosnell should receive the death penalty or face life in prison on the capital murder counts.
Gosnell reacted calmly to the verdicts, but jurors and lawyers displayed more emotion. One prosecutor was sobbing.
The verdicts were announced just before 3 p.m., a few hours after the jurors informed the judge in the case that they were hung on two charges.
It remained unclear which of the more than 260 charges against Gosnell had caused the stalemate. When jurors were brought into the courtroom about 11:15 a.m., Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart gave them what is commonly called a Spencer charge, telling them to reexamine the evidence and continue trying to reach a verdict.
Read more at the Washington Post.