U.S. appeals court denies new trial for Kevorkian

June 23, 2004, 7:30 AM

DETROIT (AP) -- A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal for a new trial for assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, who has been behind bars since 1999.

In an unsigned, one-page decision, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling last November by U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds denying Kevorkian's petition.

The court said Kevorkian's "claims are all lacking in substantive merit."

Mayer Morganroth, a Southfield attorney for Kevorkian, said he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court because Kevorkian did not get a fair trial.

"If it wasn't Kevorkian's name on the case, there would have been a different decision," Morganroth told The Detroit News for a story Wednesday.

Meanwhile, many of Kevorkian's friends have written Gov. Jennifer Granholm, asking her to pardon him.

Kevorkian, 76, is being held at the Thumb Correctional Facility in Lapeer. He is serving 10 to 25 years for second-degree murder in the 1998 videotaped poisoning of Thomas Youk of Oakland County's Waterford Township. Youk, who had Lou Gehrig's disease, was shown on CBS' "60 Minutes" receiving a lethal dose of potassium chloride from Kevorkian.

Kevorkian has said he assisted in at least 130 deaths, but has promised in affidavits that he will not assist in a suicide if he is released from prison. He said in the interview that he stands by that promise.

Kevorkian could be eligible for parole in 2007, but could remain in prison until 2019.

Michigan banned assisted suicide in 1998