On Tuesday, after prosecutors rested their case, Kevorkian tried to convince Judge Jessica Cooper to admit the testimony of Melody and Terrence Youk, Thomas' widow and brother. He claimed that their testimony could help him prove his true intentions when he injected the 52-year-old Lou Gehrig's disease patient with a fatal dose of chemicals last September.

But prosecutors have objected, saying that the Youks' assessment on Kevorkian's frame of mind was hearsay and would also refer to Youk's pain and suffering, evidence that is inadmissible at the murder trial. Prosecutor John Skrzynski also suggested on Tuesday and in court papers responding to Kevorkian's motion that the testimony also would suggest a consent defense, which is not a legal defense under Michigan law. Skrzynski said the Youks' testimony would generate sympathy for the alleged victim and implicitly condone Kevorkian's actions.

In court papers filed Wednesday morning, Kevorkian, with the help of his legal advisers David Gorosh and Lisa Dwyer, argued that Melody and Terrence Youk should be allowed to testify about their discussions with Kevorkian during their initial meeting. Kevorkian's motion said Youks' relatives' desire to ease his pain would illustrate the retired pathologist's motives in the case.

"This testimony is not being offered to illustrate that Melody and Terry Youk, in fact, had no intention for Defendant to kill Thomas Youk," the court papers said. "Furthermore, the testimony is not being offered to illustrate a legal defense of consent or euthanasia to the jury. This is not testimony that will be used to illustrate a point of view. Rather, it is testimony that is offered to illustrate the factual effect that such statements had on Dr. Kevorkian."

Outside the presence of the jury Wednesday, Melody claimed that when she, Thomas and Terrence initially approached Kevorkian, the words "kill" and "murder" never came up. She insisted that Kevorkian only wanted to relieve Thomas of his suffering, not murder him.

"What we hoped might be accomplished is that you would help us bring an end to his situation," Mrs. Youk said. "The word 'kill' never came up. The conversations focused on relieving Tom's suffering. Murder never appeared in our conversations ... that was not our goal."

Kevorkian may have difficulty winning his argument. It seems that Melody and Terrence Youk would not be able to testify about their meeting with Kevorkian without alluding to Thomas' battle with Lou Gehrig's disease and his reasons for contacting the reputed "Dr. Death." Kevorkian has said that he became involved in Youk's death to relieve his suffering and that relieving his patient's pain was his duty as a dedicated physician. To convince jurors he had a benevolent intent, Kevorkian may have to testify on his own behalf Thursday.

Kevorkian was originally charged with murder, assisted suicide, and delivery of a controlled substance, but prosecutors dropped the assisted suicide charge to prevent the defense from presenting evidence about Youk's pain and suffering. In a pre-trial hearing, Judge Cooper ruled that evidence about Youk's condition was relevant to assisted suicide but not murder.

Michigan prosecutors rested their case Tuesday after playing the videotape of Youk's death and calling the medical examiner and two investigating officers to the stand. In the edited and unedited tapes shown to jurors, Kevorkian is shown having a weak and barely intelligible Youk sign consent forms for his assisted death.

Prosecutors also showed Kevorkian's "60 Minutes" interview with Mike Wallace in which he explained his reasons for submitting the tapes and asking the CBS program to show it to a national audience.

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. Kevorkian was charged with first-degree murder after "60 Minutes" showed the tape to a national audience on November 23.

Judge Cooper is expected to rule on Kevorkian's motion by the time the trial resumes Thursday morning.

Court TV's Bryan Robinson and Mary Jane Stevenson contributed to this report.