Suicide Doc's Appeal Denied

The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the murder conviction of assisted suicide proponent Jack Kevorkian in the death of a 52-year-old man that was shown on television.

The decision was handed down Tuesday and announced Wednesday.

Kevorkian, 73, who says he has assisted in more than 130 deaths, is serving a 10- to 25-year sentence for the September 1998 death of Thomas Youk, who was terminally ill with Lou Gehrig's disease.

He had videotaped himself injecting Youk with a lethal dose of potassium chloride and gave the tape to CBS News' 60 Minutes. The tape was televised in November 1998, and prosecutors quickly responded with a murder charge.

Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder in March 1999. He acted as his own attorney for most of the trial, telling the court his actions were "a medical service for an agonized human being."

The jury could have convicted Kevorkian of first-degree murder, which would have sent him to prison to life without possibility of parole.

Before the appeals court, Kevorkian's attorney Mayer Morganroth argued that his client deserved a new trial, saying, "I don't think (his conviction) would have occurred had he had effective counsel."

But Oakland County assistant prosecutor Anica Letica argued that Kevorkian "knew exactly what he was doing" when he represented himself — with attorney David Gorosh advising him. She said the conviction should stand.

Morganroth also contended that an autopsy never proved that Youk, of Waterford, died as a direct result of the lethal injection given by Kevorkian — an argument disputed by Letica.

By Kathy Barks Hoffman
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