Prosecutor Drops Kevorkian Case

A prosecutor said he is dropping an assisted-suicide case against Dr. Jack Kevorkian rather than put up with the courtroom antics of Kevorkian’s lawyer. A mistrial was declared in the case June 12 after defense attorney Geoffrey Fieger, in his opening statement, accused Ionia County Prosecutor Ray Voet of harassing the dead woman’s family and altering the death certificate. Kevorkian, a 69-year-old retired pathologist, was charged with helping inject a heart-stopping drug into 54-year-old Loretta Peabody, who was ill with multiple sclerosis, in a bedroom at her Ionia home in 1996. Fieger said the prosecutor’s decision is “best for the Peabodys.” Kevorkian has admitted taking part in at least 45 suicides since 1990.