Kevorkian Loses 5th Release Plea

Five times, Jack Kevorkian’s lawyer has asked the court to release the assisted-suicide crusader from prison while his murder conviction is appealed.

Five times, the court has said no.

Defense lawyer Mayer Morganroth said Friday that he’ll again ask a higher court to free the 72-year-old Kevorkian after Circuit Court Judge Jessica Cooper denied the request Thursday.

“I don’t know how many more ways the judges can say no,” said Anica Letica, an assistant Oakland County prosecutor.

Morganroth contends that Kevorkian should be freed on bond because chronic high blood pressure puts him at risk of a stroke. “He should not be sitting in a 6-foot-by-10-foot cell waiting for his appeal,” Morganroth said.

Matt Davis, a Department of Corrections spokesman, said Kevorkian is being treated like any other inmate. “Poor health is not a ‘get out of jail free card,’ ” he said.

“People die in prison just like they do in real life,” Davis said. “A prison sentence is a prison sentence is a prison sentence. If they die in prison, that’s tough.”

Kevorkian was sentenced last year to 10 to 25 years for second-degree murder. He was convicted in the 1998 death of a terminally ill man whose death he videotaped.

Letica said Kevorkian is a risk to society. “He’s said nobody will stop him from what he does. He videotaped himself committing the murder,” she said. “He dared us to charge him. The jury convicted him. They followed the law.”