Kevorkian Arraigned For Murder

Dr. Jack Kevorkian got exactly what he wanted Wednesday, a high-speed, head-on collision with the law over where to draw the line between assisted suicide and homicide.

Jack Kevorkian walked into a Michigan police station a satisfied man. He had killed a patient and later it was shown on television in order, he said, to put euthanasia on trial.

"In this case there is an obvious violation of the law that I will not turn my back to," said prosecutor David Gorcyca.

Kevorkian, who surrendered Wednesday, will now have to defend himself against charges of first-degree premeditated murder, assisted suicide and and delivery of a controlled substance in the death of Thomas Youk.

Kevorkian was released on $750,000 bond but with a strict warning from Michigan Magistrate Rrobert Crawford.

"Each of these bonds are conditioned subject to you, Mr. Kevorkian, having no participation whatsoever in any homicide, euthanasia or any other term you wish to call it," said Crawford.

Kevorkian was released once before on bond and assisted in another suicide that very night. Now it seems he has his showdown, a fight to the death Kevorkian claims, because if he is convicted, he has vowed to go on a hunger strike.

Wednesday's

Gorcyca had subpoenaed a videotape of Thomas Youk's death, portions of which were shown Sunday on CBS News 60 Minutes. He wanted the tape to help him decide whether to charge the retired pathologist.

Kevin Tedesco, a spokesman for 60 Minutes, would not discuss why CBS decided to comply with the subpoena beyond saying, "It was our understanding (Kevorkian) wanted it made public."

Prosecutor David Gorcyca's office had said a decision whether to charge Kevorkian in Youk's death would not occur until after "a full review of the tapes and completion of the investigation by the Waterford Township Police."

Kevorkian is believed to have injected Youk, 52, with a fatal dose of potassium chloride on Sept. 17 at the man's Waterford Township home, three weeks after Michigan's assisted suicide law went into effect. This law makes the practice a five-year felony.

"A review of the tapes involving Mr. Youk and Kevorkian present sufficient facts and probable cause to support charges of assisted suicide," Gorcyca said. "Notwithstanding Mr. Youk's consent, consent is not a viable defense in taking the life of another, even under the most controlled environment."

Kevorkian, 70, has acknowledged a role in some 130 assisted suicides since 1990, but said Youk's death was his first euthanaia.

The prosecutor's office received the tape Wednesday, one day after Kevorkian shook up his legal team amid a dispute over the case. Kevorkian asked Wayne State University law professor Robert Sedler on Tuesday to become his legal adviser, said his lawyer, David Gorosh.

"Dr. Kevorkian has indicated that he doesn't need a trial lawyer. He doesn't need a criminal defense attorney," Gorosh said. "He asked me to continue on with him. I'm not sure how long I can continue to do that."

Gorosh said Kevorkian is wrong to try to defend himself and needs a lawyer representing him in court.

On the tape, Youk is seen agreeing to lethal injection, and his family supported him. "I don't consider it murder. I consider it the way things should be," said Youk's wife, Melody.

But critics say this wasn't about Thomas Youk's wishes, but about Jack Kevorkian's agenda. The American Medical Association said it was appalled that Kevorkian put his own interests above the patient's. Even advocates of assisted suicide called what Kevorkian did a "disturbing sideshow."

Kevorkian was acquitted in three previous trials involving five deaths. A fourth trial was declared a mistrial.

Kevorkian's face was not shown on the 60 Minutes video at the point when Youk was being injected, but he said during the show and in subsequent interviews that he was challenging prosecutors to charge him.

"I've got to force them to act. They must charge me. If they do not, they don't think it's a crime," Kevorkian said on 60 Minutes.

Kevorkian said Youk died Sept. 17, less than three weeks after Michigan enacted a law making assisted suicide a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.