With Kevorkian's latest assisted suicide trial less than three weeks away, Michigan prosecutors are trying to invalidate most of the reputed "Dr. Death's" anticipated defense arguments. To gain acquittals in his client's three previous trials, Kevorkian's former attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, relied on emphasizing the patients' suffering and argued that his client only intended to relieve pain.

But, prosecutor John Skrzynski argued at Wednesday's hearing, euthanasia and consent are not legally viable defenses. Skrzynski said the defense was planning to focus on the failing health of Thomas Youk, who had Lou Gehrig's disease, at the time of his encounter with Kevorkian. Their intent, Skrzynski said, is to generate sympathy for Youk and advocate that the jury nullify Michigan law. The defense wants to implicitly encourage jurors to condone Kevorkian's actions, said Skrzynski.

"This case is not about the right to die. It's about the right to kill," Skrzynski said. "He [Kevorkian] admits it to Mike Wallace on the ['60 Minutes'] tape. He's saying...look at this man: he's terminally ill and his life is not worth living anymore; he has a right to self-determination; and he's consented. He's telling jurors consent is a defense, and it is not."

Skrzynski also wanted Judge Jessica Cooper to instruct jurors at the trial that consent and euthanasia are not legal defenses and that they cannot acquit Kevorkian for those reasons.

Prosecutors want the trial to focus solely on the elements of murder: whether Kevorkian intended to kill Youk and whether he in fact killed him — not the ethics of euthanasia or the debilitating effects of Lou Gehrig's disease.

However, Kevorkian's attorney, David Gorosh said in court that he does not plan to use a consent or euthanasia defense. He suggested that he plans to prove his client only intended to relieve Youk's suffering.

Gorosh also argued that prosecutors cannot charge him with both assisted suicide and first-degree murder because the terms contradict one another. Youk's death, he argued cannot be considered both a suicide and a murder.

In his motion to convince Judge Cooper to drop the assisted suicide charge, Gorosh argued that Youk and Kevorkian never made a specific plan of death. According to Michigan law, a person can only be charged with assisted suicide if they specifically plan the method of death, and Gorosh claimed that particular plan did not exist.

In addition, Gorosh argued that the murder charge should be dropped because Kevorkian did not intend to harm Youk and wanted to ease his pain.

But, Skrzynski countered, Kevorkian clearly wanted to ease Youk's suffering by ending his life. He pointed out that, in addition to his alleged "good motives," Kevorkian revealed other reasons for killing Youk on the "60 Minutes" tape. He admitted he wanted to bring the debate over euthanasia to a national forum and preserve his Ninth Amendment right to die.

Skrzynski said the charges against Kevorkian focus on two different incidents: his having Youk sign the assisted suicide consent form on Sept. 16, 1998 and his causing Youk's death on Sept. 17. The Sept. 16 incident, the prosecutor said, proves that Kevorkian helped Youk plan the assisted suicide, and Youk's death the next day proves the murder charge.

On Nov. 25, 1998, Michigan prosecutors charged Kevorkian with first-degree murder, criminally assisted suicide and delivery of a controlled substance after viewing unedited and edited tapes of Youk's death, which was televised Nov. 23 on CBS' "60 Minutes."

A national audience saw Kevorkian challenge prosecutors to charge him because he wanted to settle the ongoing debate over euthanasia. According to Kevorkian, Youk died Sept. 17, approximately three weeks after Michigan enacted a law making assisted suicide a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

In both the unedited and edited versions of the tape, Kevorkian is shown having a weak and barely intelligible Youk sign consent forms for his assisted death. Youk had trouble breathing and swallowing properly and would often choke on his saliva. He had to eat through a feeding tube. Like Kevorkian's previous patients, Youk initially thought he was going to inject himself with lethal doses of drugs by operating an apparatus.

While he conceded that Youk could have operated the machine, Kevorkian said that he persuaded Youk to allow him to directly administer the fatal drug because it was more efficient and more humane. He said he told Youk of his intent to use him to extend the national debate over assisted suicide to euthanasia. Prosecutors could use these admissions by Kevorkian to prove his intent to kill Youk.

Given that Judge Cooper previously ruled that the tapes showed the intent to kill Youk, it seems unlikely that the charges will be dropped.

By limiting or excluding evidence on Youk's condition, prosecutors could eliminate potential sympathy that jurors may feel for Youk and perhaps, Dr. Kevorkian. But, given Kevorkian's notoriety for assisted suicide cases and the fact that he is charged with murder, Judge Cooper may have to consider that jurors may realize Youk's death is part of the national debate over euthanasia — with or without mention of the patient's condition. Judge Cooper said she will rule on the motions submitted by the defense and prosecution on Friday or Monday.

Ironically, while excluding information about Youk's condition would weaken Kevorkian's defense, it could also present challenges for the prosecution. Limiting evidence on Youk's battle with Lou Gehrig's disease prevents prosecutors from mentioning Kevorkian's motives. Furthermore, failure to mention Youk's disease hinders the state's ability to prove participation in an assisted suicide, and delivery of controlled substances, even with the videotape.

Jury selection in Kevorkian's trial is set to begin March 22. If convicted of first-degree murder, the 71-year-old retired pathologist could face life in prison. Kevorkian has vowed that he will starve himself to death if sent to prison.

Reported by Court TV's Bryan Robinson.