Subject:  Kevorkian again asks for pardon from govenor |
Author:
Chris
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Date Posted: 11/ 8/04 10:36pm
as I have said before, and actually as Geoff has said... it only would happen if Geoff were governor
Kevorkian Asks for Commutation or Pardon
Mon Nov 8, 4:27 PM ET U.S. National - AP
By AMY F. BAILEY, Associated Press Writer
LANSING, Mich. - An attorney for Jack Kevorkian (news - web sites) 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 5 1/2 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 (news - web sites) justices decided against hearing Kevorkian's appeal of his conviction for the 1998 poisoning of Thomas Youk.
Youk suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease (news - web sites) 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.
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