How guilty do you think he was in the first place? 
Citing Poor Health, Kervorkian Asks For Pardon
Last Updated: 11/8/2004 2:39:50 PM
An attorney for Jack Kevorkian asked the state parole board Monday to recommend that the assisted suicide advocate be released from prison for health reasons.
Attorney Mayer Morganroth said Kevorkian has health problems including high blood pressure, a hernia and arthritis, and the board should urge Gov. Jennifer Granholm to either pardon him or commute his sentence.
Kevorkian's blood pressure "has been extremely volatile in nature and has risen to the danger level for a heart attack at times," Morganroth wrote in the request.
Kevorkian, 76, has served 51/2 years of a 10- to 25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder and his health has worsened, Morganroth said. He is not eligibile for parole until 2007.
The request comes a week after U.S. Supreme Court justices decided against hearing Kevorkian's appeal of his conviction for the 1998 poisoning of Thomas Youk.
Youk suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease and his death, which Kevorkian called a mercy killing, was videotaped and shown on national television.
Morganroth said Kevorkian would not assist in any more suicides if he is released.
Russ Marlan, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, said the department had not yet received Kevorkian's request. But he said medical commutations are normally granted only for inmates expected to live a year or less.
"We have plenty of prisoners that have cataracts and arthritis, but that doesn't mean they should be granted a commutation," Marlan said. "They're only granted for offenders that have little chance of surviving very much longer."
The request for pardon or commutation is Kevorkian's second. The state parole board voted against his first request a year ago.
Citing Poor Health, Kervorkian Asks For Pardon
Last Updated: 11/8/2004 2:39:50 PM
An attorney for Jack Kevorkian asked the state parole board Monday to recommend that the assisted suicide advocate be released from prison for health reasons.
Attorney Mayer Morganroth said Kevorkian has health problems including high blood pressure, a hernia and arthritis, and the board should urge Gov. Jennifer Granholm to either pardon him or commute his sentence.
Kevorkian's blood pressure "has been extremely volatile in nature and has risen to the danger level for a heart attack at times," Morganroth wrote in the request.
Kevorkian, 76, has served 51/2 years of a 10- to 25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder and his health has worsened, Morganroth said. He is not eligibile for parole until 2007.
The request comes a week after U.S. Supreme Court justices decided against hearing Kevorkian's appeal of his conviction for the 1998 poisoning of Thomas Youk.
Youk suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease and his death, which Kevorkian called a mercy killing, was videotaped and shown on national television.
Morganroth said Kevorkian would not assist in any more suicides if he is released.
Russ Marlan, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, said the department had not yet received Kevorkian's request. But he said medical commutations are normally granted only for inmates expected to live a year or less.
"We have plenty of prisoners that have cataracts and arthritis, but that doesn't mean they should be granted a commutation," Marlan said. "They're only granted for offenders that have little chance of surviving very much longer."
The request for pardon or commutation is Kevorkian's second. The state parole board voted against his first request a year ago.
