Supreme Court turns down Kevorkian
Also rules on jury bias, restraining orders and daughter's death
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court issued several decisions Monday with only eight justices on the bench. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist was absent after issuing a statement that he would be undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatment for thyroid cancer.
At the court, Justice John Paul Stevens presided, saying about the matter simply, "The chief justice is unable to be present." (Full story)
Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian lost his Supreme Court appeal in his bid to win his 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.
Drug evidence
The court also refused an appeal from drug maker Wyeth and let stand a lower ruling that a federal judge went too far when he issued an order restricting the evidence that fen-phen users want to present in their lawsuits claiming heart valve damage.
Wyeth had argued that former users of its Pondimin and Redux pills violated the agreement not to seek punitive damages when they chose to "opt out" of the federal class-action settlement to pursue their own lawsuits.
The Supreme Court's action means that plaintiffs will now be able to present evidence previously barred, but they still may not use those that are relevant only to a claim for punitive damages.
Restraining order
The Supreme Court will decide whether local governments can be sued for failing to enforce restraining orders, using the case of a Colorado mother whose three daughters were killed by their father.
The Supreme Court handled a similar case in 1989, and ruled that public officials may not be sued when their alleged gross negligence permits a child to be abused by a parent. The 6-3 opinion was authored by Rehnquist.
The court said then that the government does not have a constitutional duty to protect people, including abused children, who are not in custody.
Daughter's death
The court also let stand the conviction of a Virginia man in the 2002 death of his 21-month-old daughter in a sweltering van.
Temperatures inside the van, which was parked outside the family's home, were estimated to have reached 120 degrees. A prosecutor charged that Frances Kelly "literally roasted to death."
In his appeal, Kevin C. Kelly said he could not be held criminally negligent because he had instructed his older children to take their younger siblings out of the van. Kelly argued that he never checked on her because he assumed she was safely sleeping inside the house.
But the Virginia Court of Appeals disagreed, stating that there was enough evidence at trial to show Kelly should have done more to look after Frances instead of doing various household chores.
Jury bias
The court allowed a new trial to proceed for a black man sentenced to death 18 years ago in a case in which prosecutors improperly restricted opportunities for blacks to serve on his jury.
The court, with comment, declined to hear Philadelphia's appeal in the case of Arnold Holloway, 62, who allegedly murdered a fellow drug dealer in 1980.
Monday's action represents a defeat for Philadelphia prosecutors, who have seen a string of convictions set aside in recent years because of claims they tried to keep minorities off jury pools in cases involving black defendants.
Holloway was convicted in 1986 by a jury of nine whites and three blacks, plus two white alternate jurors, after prosecutors used 11 of their 12 peremptory challenges during jury selection to eliminate blacks.
Other actions:
Said they would schedule arguments soon in a dispute between Alaska and the federal government over ownership of submerged lands in the Glacier Bay area.Declined to review the corruption charges conviction of the International Boxing Federation's founder and former president, Robert W. Lee Sr.Declined to consider a new trial for a woman found guilty of driving under the influence of marijuana in the deaths of six teenagers on a southern Nevada road crew.Refused to step into a dispute over whether Kentucky laws that ban cash as well as post-election donations are constitutionally permissible to battle corruption and campaign fraud.
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
