Assisted suicide advocate Kevorkian leaves prison

COLDWATER, Michigan (Reuters) - Jack Kevorkian, the controversial assisted suicide advocate dubbed "Dr. Death" by critics, was released on Friday morning from a Michigan prison.

Kevorkian, 79, had served eight years for a second-degree murder conviction after he videotaped himself administering lethal drugs to a 52-year-old, Detroit-area man suffering from the debilitating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Kevorkian won international notoriety in the 1990s after presiding as a doctor in dozens of suicides and advocating the legalization of such procedures in the United States.

Under police escort, Kevorkian and his lawyer drove out of a state prison in rural Coldwater, Michigan, about 100 miles

southwest of Detroit.

About a dozen supporters lined a road to the prison under gray skies, holding hand-lettered signs, including, "Jack, Glad You're Back" and "Jack, We're Glad You're Out of the Box."

Kevorkian has said he will return to the campaign for legal reform to allow the terminally ill to end their lives with medical aid, starting with a series of high-profile television interviews.