Abortion doc still needs a lawyer

Kermit Gosnell, the alleged abortion doctor from hell, is scheduled at a hearing today in Courtroom 305 at the Criminal Justice Center.

The question is, will he finally have a lawyer by his side?

As of yesterday afternoon, Gosnell still had not hired a defense attorney, said District Attorney spokeswoman Tasha Jamerson.

Last week, Common Pleas Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes told Gosnell and his wife, Pearl, that she didn't buy their sob story about needing public defenders because they were broke.

Hughes ordered the couple to find a way to hire their own attorneys, noting that they owned at least seven properties, including a $984,000 home in Brigantine, N.J.

Even if Kermit Gosnell, 69, decided to defend himself against allegations that he murdered seven living, breathing babies at his West Philly medical office, he would need a lawyer to monitor his case, Jamerson said.

If Gosnell and his 50-year-old wife again show up for court without lawyers, Hughes could appoint them legal counsel, Jamerson said. In that scenario, the couple would be billed after their trial, and their assets would be liquidated.

Hughes said yesterday that during her 25 years on the bench, she had never encountered defendants who acted so carelessly about hiring lawyers as have the Gosnells.

Also expected in court for today's hearing are Gosnell's other co-defendants and former employees: Adrienne Moten, Lynda Williams, Tina Baldwin, Madeline Joe, Elizabeth Hampton, Eileen O'Neil, Sherry West and Steven Masoff.