Michigan - A district court judge has ordered Dr Jack Kevorkian to stand trial on first-degree murder and assisted-suicide charges for the death in September of a terminally ill Detroit man.
Prosecutors filed charges against Dr Kevorkian (70) last month for injecting Thomas Youk (52), who suffered from motor neurone disease, on September 17th with a lethal drug. Portions of a videotape Kevorkian made of Mr Youk's death were broadcast on November 22nd on the CBS News programme 60 Minutes.
Dr Kevorkian has said he made the tape of Mr Youk's death and brought it to 60 Minutes to force a showdown with prosecutors over assisted suicide and euthanasia. He could face life in prison without chance of parole if convicted on the first-degree murder charge.