Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 6, 1993 TAG: 9311060096
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: DETROIT LENGTH: Medium
The deputy sheriffs looked at each other, then at the tiny, elderly man seated between them.
"Carry him," barked Kevorkian's attorney, Geoffrey Fieger.
Kevorkian was then hoisted from his seat and dragged out of Recorder's Court by his arms, his legs dangling limply. Within hours, the self-described suicide doctor had begun a hunger strike in a 10-by-10 foot cell in the Wayne County Jail.
The 135-pound Kevorkian vowed to starve himself to death rather than post $2,000 cash on a $20,000 bond set Friday by an irate Recorder's Court Judge Thomas Jackson.
"If a person is just utterly contemptuous of court procedures, and breaks the rules . . . then he must suffer the consequences," Jackson said.
The judge set the bond after finding Kevorkian had violated conditions of the personal bond ordered after he was charged with assisting in the Aug. 4 death of Thomas Hyde on Belle Isle. The violation came when Kevorkian was charged with assisting in the suicide of Donald O'Keefe a month later.
Critics said Kevorkian's trip to jail on Friday was a fitting conclusion to courtroom spectacles created by him and his lawyer, and that Kevorkian was responsible for his own fate. But supporters said it was a travesty of justice that could end tragically.
"Dr. Kevorkian will die. He will not purchase his freedom. We are now at the crossroads on this critical issue," said Fieger, his attorney.
But Wayne County Prosecutor John O'Hair said, "It's unfortunate that he's chosen to continue to disobey the law, but it's his decision. . . . If I were the jailers I would not institute forced feeding."
By nightfall Friday, Kevorkian had refused a ham sandwich snack and a dinner that included a hamburger, buttered carrots, browned potatoes, a fruit turnover and chocolate milk. Kevorkian, who refuses to stand or walk, lay on his bed resting most of the afternoon.
Sheriff Wayne Ficano said Kevorkian will be monitored 24 hours a day. He said forced feeding would be used as a last resort, and only after a court order was obtained.
"Will we let Mr. Kevorkian die in our custody? No," the sheriff said.
Kevorkian, a retired pathologist, was sent to jail after an contentious court session punctuated by sharp exchanges between Fieger and Judge Jackson.
Anyone can post the $2,000 cash bond necessary to free Kevorkian from the jail, which is open 24 hours a day. Sheriff Ficano's chief of staff, Nancy Mouradian, said although 25,000 inmates go through the jail each year, no one has ever refused to leave if someone offered to post their bond.
But Fieger pleaded with Kevorkian's supporters not to post bond.
"I hate to say this, but we're now beginning the death watch for Dr. Kevorkian," he said.
by CNB