Nation IN BRIEF : MICHIGAN : Appeal Plea Halts Kevorkian Trial

The Michigan Supreme Court halted Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s third assisted-suicide trial and ordered the state’s appeals court to rule on an appeal of jury instructions in the case. Prosecutors are seeking a decision that they no longer have to prove Kevorkian’s specific intent in helping two women commit suicide in October 1991. If granted, the appeal may make it easier to convict the retired pathologist, who will not be allowed to use the argument that has resulted in two prior acquittals on assisted-suicide charges--that he intended to relieve pain and suffering, not cause death. Kevorkian’s lawyers said they planned to seek dismissal of the charges because the 2nd District Court of Appeals had ruled that New York state’s ban on doctor-assisted suicide was unconstitutional.