A prosecutor said Friday he will not appeal a judge's dismissal of a first-degree murder charge against a doctor who invented a device that an Alzheimer's victim used to kill herself. District Judge Gerald McNally on Thursday threw out a first-degree murder charge against retired pathologist Dr. Jack Kevorkian in the June 4 death of Janet Adkins of Portland, Ore. She died after activating a machine invented by Kevorkian that sent poison into her veins. The ruling doesn't let Kevorkian use the suicide device again. Oakland County Prosecutor Richard Thompson said the ruling left many moral, medical, ethical and religious issues unsettled. ``We think Judge McNally's decision was wrong,'' he said. ``(But) these profound issues should be decided by the legislative branch of government, that branch which is pre-eminently suited to consider the consensus of society.'' Thompson also said there was no guarantee the Michigan Supreme Court or Michigan Court of Appeals would hear the case and an appeal would drain county funds. ``I'm pleased that he's not going to waste further taxpayers' money on an appeal,'' Geoffrey Fieger, one of Kevorkian's lawyers. ``And I hope he'll drop the civil case as well. I hope he decides not to enforce morality through the prosecutor's office.'' Thompson said the county will continue its civil case blocking Kevorkian from using his suicide machine or helping others commit suicide. Kevorkian's machine remains in police custody after prosecutors obtained a temporary court order preventing its further use. A civil trial to decide whether or not to make that order permanent will resume in January, Thompson said. Kevorkian hooked Mrs. Adkins, 54, to his device in the back of a van in a park in Oakland County northwest of Detroit. Adkins pushed a button, allowing lethal drugs to drip into her system. Michigan has no laws against suicide or assisting in it, but the Legislature is considering at least two bills outlawing assisted suicide.
