Gosnell jury stuck on 2 counts; 250+ remain

The jury weighing a multitude of charges against abortion Dr. Kermit Gosnell entered its ninth day of deliberations Monday morning by announcing it was hung on two of more than 250 counts.

It was not immediately clear Monday morning on which specific charges the jurors were deadlocked. Both prosecution and defense conferred with Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart, after which Minehart asked jurors to keep trying. He told them to ask for help if needed.

The jury has more than 250 counts to consider in addition to those two.

The jury of seven women and five men had deliberated for about 51 hours since April 30. The trial is now in its 9th week.

The jurors seemed to spend much of last week considering the murder charges against Gosnell, 72, who operated the Women's Medical Society clinic at 3801 Lancaster Ave. from 1979 to 2010, when it was closed after a federal-state drug raid.

Gosnell is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, of babies allegedly born alive during illegal late-term abortions and killed by Gosnell or staff.

Gosnell also faces 227 counts of violating the state's 24-hour waiting period before a woman has an abortion.

He also faces a count of third-degree murder in the 2009 death of an abortion patient allegedly overdosed on Demerol by Gosnell's untrained staff.

Codefendant Eileen O'Neill, 56, of Phoenixville, is charged with working as an unlicensed doctor in Gosnell's family practice.