Paul Hill has a month to wait before he finds out whether he will pay for his actions with his life. Hill has already told friends he is willing to die for the shooting deaths of abortionist John Baynard Britton and his bodyguard.
A jury of six men and six women deliberated for only 20 minutes before they found the ex-Presbyterian minister guilty of first-degree murder. Hill shot the pair as they were entering the abortuary. When police arrived he was still carrying his shotgun and was taken into custody without a struggle.
Frank Bell, the Escambia County judge who presided over the case, barred him from using justifiable homicide as a defence. On finding this out, Hill declared the trial a mockery of justice, released his team of lawyers and acted as his own representative.
In his only statement to jurors, Hill said, “You have the right to protect your neighbour’s life and to use force if necessary to do so. In an effort to suppress this truth, you may mix my blood with the blood of the unborn and those who have fought to defend the oppressed.”
Bell will wait a month to consider the jury’s recommendation before issuing a sentence.
Pro-life groups around the world have, for the most part, condemned Hill’s actions.
