Criminal Law Keyed to Kadish
People v. Kevorkian
ProfessorScott Caron
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
The Defendant developed a unique device to assist a person in taking his own life. Two women, both suffering from painful diseases, sought the assistance of the Defendant’s machine in ending their lives. The device consisted of IV tubes of anesthesia and potassium chloride. A string tied to a finger of the person committing suicide controlled the release of anesthesia which, once released, would cause the hand to drop and thereby pull on a second string also tied to a finger that released the IV of poisonous potassium chloride. The device worked on one of the women, ending her life. Defendant was unsuccessful in inserting the IV needle into the other woman and reverted to using a cylinder of carbon monoxide with a face-mask attachment. The second woman’s life ended as a result of her turning the gas valve, which Defendant had shown her how to do.
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