Ruling Frees Doctor Who Aided Suicide : Courts: Michigan law does not forbid such action, judge says, but prosecutors may appeal decision in case of inventor of death device.

A judge on Thursday dismissed a first-degree murder charge against the inventor of a suicide device, saying he broke no law in helping an Alzheimer’s disease patient kill herself.

The judge announced his decision after hearing a tape of the Oregon woman discussing her fight against the disease. “I’ve had enough,” she said on the tape.

Janet Adkins suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, but she might still be alive had she not turned on Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s device on June 4, District Judge Gerald McNally said at the end of Kevorkian’s two-day preliminary examination.

But, because Michigan law does not forbid suicide or assisting in it, prosecutors had no case against Kevorkian, McNally said in dismissing the charge against the 62-year-old retired pathologist from Royal Oak.

There was scattered applause in the courtroom as Kevorkian turned to shake the hand of his lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger.

“I feel like I’m walking on a cloud,” Kevorkian said.

Michael Modelski, chief assistant Oakland County prosecutor, said his office was considering whether to appeal McNally’s ruling to the Circuit Court. That court could reinstate the first-degree murder charge or a lesser charge, such as second-degree murder or manslaughter, he said.

Despite the dismissal, Kevorkian is not free to use his device again.

Three days after Adkins died, prosecutors obtained a temporary court order preventing further use of the device. It remains in police custody pending a civil trial on whether that order should be made permanent, Fieger said.

Prosecutor Richard Thompson filed the murder charge six months after Adkins died in the back of Kevorkian’s van in a county-owned campground. Kevorkian notified authorities after Adkins was dead. He was questioned by state police officers but was not arrested until Dec. 3.

Autopsy results released in late November showed that Adkins, 54, of Portland, committed suicide with an overdose of medication. Fieger said in closing arguments that Kevorkian attached an intravenous tube to Adkins’ right arm, but the tube carried only a harmless saline solution.

The drugs that caused Adkins to lose consciousness and then stopped her heart did not enter her body until after she threw the switch on Kevorkian’s device, Fieger said.

Closing arguments were heard after the prosecution played a videotape that police officers had seized when searching Kevorkian’s apartment. On the tape, made June 2 in a motel room, Kevorkian, Adkins and her husband, Ronald, discuss her struggle with Alzheimer’s, which causes irreversible brain degeneration, and her decision to ask for Kevorkian’s help in ending her life.

Adkins gave short and generally clear answers to questions posed by Kevorkian and her husband.

“My life before was wonderful,” Adkins says. “I could play the piano and read. I can’t do any of those things (now) . . . .”

“Why do you want your life to end?” Kevorkian asks.

“I’ve had enough,” Adkins answers, her voice breaking.