November, 1, 2004
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian lost a Supreme Court appeal on Monday in his bid to win freedom after five years in prison.

Justices, without comment, turned back an appeal in which Kevorkian claimed he had an ineffective attorney when he was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1998 poisoning of Thomas Youk. Youk had Lou Gehrig's disease, and Kevorkian called it a mercy killing. The death was videotaped and shown on national television.

The Supreme Court had also turned back an appeal from Kevorkian two years ago that claimed his prosecution was unconstitutional.

Kevorkian has said he assisted in at least 130 deaths, but has promised in affidavits that he will not aid in more suicides if he is released. He could be eligible for parole in 2007.