PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) -- A jury on Tuesday watched a videotape of Dr. Jack Kevorkian giving a lethal injection to Thomas Youk, the man with Lou Gehrig's disease he is accused of murdering.
The trial, which began Monday, raced toward a swift conclusion with prosecution resting its case after calling three witnesses. Kevorkian was to present his sole witness, Youk's brother Terry, when testimony resumed Tuesday afternoon.The tape started with Kevorkian interviewing Youk, 52, about his illness, which forced him to use a feeding tube and was progressively depriving him of control of his body.
On camera, Kevorkian asks Youk if he wants to go ahead and end his life. Youk indicates he does, and Kevorkian hands him a pen to sign a consent form.
"We'll wait a week and see how you feel in a week. Is that all right with you, Tom?" Kevorkian says.
The tape resumes later.
"Are you sure you want to go ahead now?" Kevorkian asks Youk. Kevorkian then begins preparing an intravenous line for Youk.
"Are you sure you want to go ahead now?" Kevorkian asks.
"We're ready to inject. We're going to inject in your right arm," Kevorkian says. A hand is shown injecting drugs into Youk's intravenous line.
"Now there's a straight line. . . . His heart is stopped," Kevorkian says.
Kevorkian is charged with first-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance in the Sept. 17, 1998, death of Youk. Portions of the video of Youk's death were shown in November on CBS's "60 Minutes"; Tuesday, jurors saw the whole thing.
After that videotape, jurors were shown a tape of the "60 Minutes" broadcast itself in which Mike Wallace interviewed Kevorkian, who said he would starve himself to death in prison if convicted.
The Oakland County medical examiner, Dr. L.J. Dragovic, then took the stand and testified that Youk's body showed signs of muscular wasting, as from an illness.
Dragovic said an injection of potassium chloride -- which Kevorkian said he gave Youk -- would stop the heart.
During his cross-examination, Kevorkian pressed Dragovic on whether Lou Gehrig's disease contributed to Youk's death. Dragovic insisted there was no link. "It had absolutely no contribution to Mr. Youk's death," he said.