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del.icio.usTiller files may need new set of subpoenas
BY RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle
A Sedgwick County district judge said Thursday that a citizens grand jury investigating a Wichita abortion provider may have to issue new subpoenas for patient records.
Judge Paul Buchanan did not rule on whether he would enforce or reject the subpoenas to George Tiller's clinic in light of a Kansas Supreme Court decision earlier this week. The state's highest court outlined specific findings Buchanan would have to make before ruling on the order for more than 2,000 patient records and limiting the scope of the grand jury's request.
During the hearing, the judge indicated that revised subpoenas may need to be issued.
Abortion opponents collected more than 7,000 signatures to impanel the grand jury. Kansas is one of only a handful of states that allows residents to petition for a grand jury investigation.
Prosecutor Ann Swegle of the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office, who is advising the grand jury, told the judge the panel would agree to seek a sampling of 50 records per year for the past five years.
Buchanan also said he would privately meet with Swegle to determine the scope of the grand jury investigation, before deciding which records were relevant to the inquiry.
Grand jury proceedings are closed to the public by law.
Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-6514 or rsylvester@wichitaeagle.com.
