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Michigan court to hear Kevorkian appeal

DETROIT, Michigan (CNN) -- An attorney for Jack Kevorkian will go before a three-member panel of Michigan Court of Appeals Tuesday to argue the convicted assisted-suicide advocate deserves a new trial.

Kevorkian, 73, was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1998 death of Thomas Youk, 52, of Waterford Township, Michigan, who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease.

Kevorkian is currently serving a 10 to 25 year sentence at a maximum security prison in Jackson, Michigan, and is not going to appear in court.

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A videotape showing Kevorkian administering a lethal injection to Youk was aired on the CBS program "60 Minutes" and was also shown to an Oakland County, Michigan, jury during in the trial.

Kevorkian's attorney, Mayer Morganroth, is expected to argue that his client's lawyer during the trial, David Gorosh, was ineffective, and that prosecutors inappropriately told jurors in closing arguments that Kevorkian refused to take the stand in his own defense.

The Oakland County assistant prosecutor making arguments against the appeal said the videotape of Youk's death alone proves Kevorkian committed murder and does not deserve a new trial.

"He videotaped himself giving a lethal injection and had it aired on national television... He's guilty of murder. It's not hard," said Annica Letica.

Morganroth calls Kevorkian's appeal a "slam dunk," but Letica said it's a "no-brainer" for the appeals judges.

The appeal will be heard by Judges Joel P. Hoekstra, William C. Whitbeck, and Henry Saad, who will confer on a decision and release their ruling.

Morganroth has also been critical of the state's handling of Kevorkian's appeal, saying cases before the court are typically heard and decided in 16 months.

A confident Letica said "this has nothing to do with politics."

Kevorkian agreed on "60 Minutes" that Youk's death could be murder or manslaughter, she said.

"Now he wants to get back in the shell game."



Greta@LAW





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