Some key events in the assisted-suicide campaign of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who said he helped more than 130 people kill themselves during the 1990s:
June 4, 1990 — Janet Adkins, 54, of Portland, Ore., becomes the first person to use a suicide machine developed by Kevorkian. Murder charges against him are dropped when a judge rules Michigan has no law against assisted suicide.
November 1991 — Michigan suspends Kevorkian's medical license.
Dec. 15, 1992 — Gov. John Engler signs a temporary law making assisted suicide a four-year felony while a commission studies the issue.
May 2, 1994 — Kevorkian acquitted of assisted suicide.
March 8, 1996 — Kevorkian acquitted of two assisted suicides.
May 14, 1996 — Kevorkian acquitted of two assisted suicides. A judge had dismissed murder charges against him in the same deaths.
June 1997 — Kevorkian accused of assisted suicide. Judge declares a mistrial.
Sept. 1, 1998 — A law passed by the Legislature takes effect, permanently banning assisted suicide. Lawmakers crafted the bill in an effort to get Kevorkian's to stop helping people to kill themselves.
Sept. 17, 1998 — Kevorkian videotapes the injection death of Thomas Youk, shown two months later on CBS' "60 Minutes." Youk suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Nov. 3, 1998 — Michigan voters reject a statewide ballot issue by 71 percent to 29 percent that would have legalized assisted suicide.
Nov. 25, 1998 — Kevorkian charged with murder, assisted suicide and delivery of a controlled substance in Youk's death. Assisted suicide charge later dropped.
March 26, 1999 — Kevorkian convicted of second-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance. He faces up to life in prison.
April 13, 1999 — Oakland County Circuit Judge Jessica Cooper sentences Kevorkian to 10 to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder and three to seven years for delivery of a controlled substance.
Nov. 12, 1999 — Kevorkian appeals conviction to Michigan Court of Appeals.
Aug. 24, 2000 — Cooper denies a request to consider releasing Kevorkian on bond pending the appeal of his conviction.
Nov. 21, 2001 — More than 2 1/2 years after Kevorkian's second-degree murder conviction, a three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals unanimously affirms the conviction and declines his request for a new trial.
April 10, 2002 — The Michigan Supreme Court, in a 6-1 decision, refuses to review the Court of Appeals decision.
July 17, 2002 — Kevorkian asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his murder conviction and uphold the right to help a terminally ill and suffering patient to die.
Oct. 7, 2002 — The U.S. Supreme Court announces that it will not consider Kevorkian's case.
Oct. 1, 2003 — A U.S. District Court judge in Detroit denies a petition seeking Kevorkian's release.
Oct. 6, 2003 — Attorney Geoffrey Fieger says he is renewing his representation of Kevorkian for the first time in five years, saying the assisted suicide proponent should be released from prison and resentenced to time served.
Dec. 1, 2003 — An Oakland County judge denies a motion filed by Fieger asking that Kevorkian be released from prison and resentenced to time served.
Nov. 1, 2004 — The U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, rejects another appeal by Kevorkian for a new trial.
Dec. 7, 2004 — The Michigan Parole Board says it will not act on a request from Kevorkian to recommend to Gov. Jennifer Granholm that she grant him parole or commute his sentence. The board says the request is essentially the same one that Granholm rejected a year earlier.
Dec. 22, 2005 — Despite reports that Kevorkian's health is failing, the parole board votes to recommend that Granholm deny his application for a commuted sentence or a pardon.
June 22, 2006 — The parole board rejects Kevorkian's claim that he has less than a year to live and so should have his second-degree murder sentence commuted. The matter does not go to the governor.
Dec. 13, 2006 — The Michigan Department of Corrections announces that Kevorkian will be paroled the following June.
June 1, 2007 — Kevorkian leaves prison, saying the release was "wonderful — one of the high points in life."
Nov. 4, 2008 — Kevorkian receives 2.7 percent of the vote in his independent bid for Congress in a suburban Detroit district.
April 24, 2010 — HBO biographical movie "You Don't Know Jack" debuts, featuring Al Pacino as Kevorkian; Brenda Vaccaro as Kevorkian's stalwart sister, Margo; John Goodman as his equally loyal friend, Neal Nicol; Danny Huston, playing flamboyant attorney Geoffrey Fieger; and Susan Sarandon as Hemlock Society activist Janet Good.
Aug. 30, 2010 — Pacino wins Emmy as best lead actor in a miniseries or movie for "You Don't Know Jack."
May 18, 2011 — Kevorkian hospitalized for pneumonia and kidney problems.
June 3, 2011 — Kevorkian dies at age 83 at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., after a short illness.
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