Judge Drops Two Charges Against Kevorkian

PONTIAC, Mich. — Retired pathologist Jack Kevorkian was released from house arrest Thursday by a judge who rejected the state’s ban on assisted suicide and dismissed two of three charges against the euthanasia advocate.

Oakland County Circuit Judge Jessica Cooper was the third judge to rule against the ban, which was put in effect about a year ago to stop Kevorkian from assisting in suicides.

The judge dismissed assisted-suicide charges in the Oakland County deaths of a 72-year-old woman with Lou Gehrig’s disease and a 61-year-old man with bone cancer. Both died in Kevorkian’s apartment building last fall.

One charge, connected to the death of a man with Lou Gehrig’s disease, is pending against Kevorkian in Wayne County.

Detroit Recorder’s Court Judge Thomas Jackson is expected to rule Feb. 18 on a motion to dismiss that charge.

Like Wayne County Circuit Judge Cynthia Stephens before her, Cooper ruled that the Legislature violated the state constitution when it passed the assisted-suicide ban because it tacked a felony provision onto a bill intended to set up a commission to study death and dying.

The previous rulings striking down the law in Wayne County are being appealed. Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Errol Shifman said his office would also appeal Cooper’s ruling.

“We believe this law is constitutional and it will be upheld,” he said.

A circuit judge’s ruling does not have statewide effect, so the law remains valid.

“This is not about the right to commit suicide. It’s about the right of someone in pain to go out and end that suffering,” Kevorkian’s attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, said after the ruling.

Kevorkian, who has attended 20 deaths since 1990, was not present when Cooper’s ruling was released, and he could not be immediately reached for comment.

Kevorkian is scheduled to attend a rally Sunday to help kick off a petition drive to force a public vote on the legality of assisted suicide.