On Thursday, Kevorkian's attorney will ask U.S. District Judge Paul Borman to set an appeals bond for his 73-year-old client, who claims state courts trampled on his due-process rights by not granting his release, largely without explanation.

Citing security reasons, Kevorkian attorney Mayer Morganroth would not say whether his client would be brought to the hearing in Detroit from the Egeler Correctional Facility in Jackson, where Kevorkian has been serving a 10- to 25-year sentence.

Morganroth called Kevorkian's freedom justified in light of his fragile health and the Michigan Court of Appeals' failure to yet hear arguments on his first appeal of the 1999 second-degree murder conviction.

Unless released on bond or appeal, Kevorkian must remain jailed until at least 2007. "The track record of denying him appellate bond has been in state courts. This is in federal court to correct that situation," Morganroth said. "I think it should be granted."

Opponents want the former pathologist, who takes credit for helping in the suicides of more than 130 people, to stay in prison.

Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca, whose office will argue against Kevorkian's release, said he was confident "the right outcome will be achieved."

But Gorcyca said the dynamics may change in federal court, where judges serving lifetime appointments "don't have to concern themselves about public opinion or media backlash, unlike elected judges at the state level" who have ruled against Kevorkian. Larry Dubin, a University of Detroit Mercy law professor, agreed.

"I don't think it necessarily increases the likelihood that bond will be granted," Dubin said. "But it will permit a judge who can be more neutral, impartial and less influenced by public opinion to make the decision based solely on constitutional considerations."

Still, Gorcyca said Kevorkian's "celebrity status should accord him no preferential treatment."

Morganroth insisted that Kevorkian would stand by his promise to not assist in any other deaths.

"This hearing isn't about whether you can trust him," Morganroth said. "He's never broken his word."

Counters Gorcyca: "Why now should we all of a sudden feel compelled to believe he's had a change of heart. If he's had one, it's because he's been sitting in a cell dwelling on his activities. He lacks any credibility or voracity."

While medication has helped manage Kevorkian's chronic high blood pressure, Morganroth said, "I'm seriously concerned about his health" confined to a 6-foot-by-10-foot cell. "He very well could stroke out," Morganroth said.

Questions of Kevorkian's health, Gorcyca said, "should carry no weight. Otherwise, I'm confident everyone on death row or serving a life sentence would come up with an ailment."

Kevorkian's conviction came after the 1998 injection death of 52-year-old Thomas Youk, which was videotaped and shown on CBS' "60 Minutes." At trial, Kevorkian acted as his own defense attorney.

Before the Youk case, Kevorkian had been acquitted of similar charges on the basis that there was no law against assisted suicide. The practice was later outlawed by the state.