Abortion Clinic Owner Called ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ : Courts: Prosecutor says murder defendant showed her true nature by trying to conceal body after a botched procedure. Defense says she tried to save patient’s life.

A prosecutor Thursday likened an abortion clinic owner accused of murdering a patient during an illegal abortion to a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” contending she took advantage of frightened young women who had nowhere else to turn.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Rick King told jurors that Alicia Hanna--who is not a doctor--exhibited a calm, soothing demeanor to her troubled patients, holding herself out as a medical worker who could perform safe, legal abortions in her Santa Ana clinic.

But Hanna’s true identity emerged Jan. 19, 1993, King told Orange County Superior Court jurors during his closing argument in her trial on charges of second-degree murder, attempting an abortion on Angela Nieto Sanchez and performing illegal abortions on two other patients. That’s when Sanchez, a 27-year-old mother of four, became violently ill and died shortly after Hanna administered drugs to Sanchez in preparation for an abortion, King said.

Hanna testified that she had tried to save the patient but lacked the proper emergency equipment--such as a working oxygen canister. She did not alert 911 for fear of being caught, she said. She later tried to hide Sanchez’s body in the trunk of a car and planned to dump the corpse in Mexico, according to trial testimony.

“When it came down to Alicia Hanna’s hide or the victim’s hide, the victim was going to lose,” King argued. “There was a conscious decision made by Alicia Hanna, and that conscious decision was: ‘I’m not going to get caught.’ ”

Deputy Public Defender Stephen Biskar acknowledged that Hanna had erred by practicing medicine without a license but said Hanna is charged with too serious a crime.

“She was wrong in practicing medicine without a license, but that’s involuntary manslaughter, not murder,” Biskar said.

He also said the prosecution had not proved its burden beyond a reasonable doubt and that one of the key prosecution witnesses--Hanna’s former assistant--is a liar whose testimony against her former boss cannot be trusted.

Hanna tried her best to save her patient’s life, Biskar said.

“She did what she could,” Biskar said. “A person who is a murderer doesn’t want to save the life of their victim.”

Questions remain about what killed Sanchez, Biskar contended, noting that prosecutors are unable to identify a substance Sanchez was allegedly injected with before her death. Hanna testified that Sanchez appeared to be on drugs when she arrived for the abortion.

Hanna also admitted lying at least eight times to police and Sanchez’s family members about the death, giving them a variety of stories. But Biskar said Hanna had “found the Lord” and made a commitment to tell the truth about the tragedy.

The prosecutor asked the jury to recall the “mental pain” Hanna inflicted on Sanchez’s young son and daughter, who arrived at the clinic with their mother. After the death, Hanna told the children that their mother had left the clinic, and the pair waited outside for most of the day until an uncle picked them up.

The relatives then embarked on a search for Sanchez and later returned to the clinic in the hope that she had returned. But Sanchez’s 14-year-old daughter testified at trial that she stumbled upon Hanna trying to hoist her mother’s lifeless body into a car trunk.