'To help someone die gently'
2004-03-31 09:47
Wanganui, New Zealand - One of New Zealand's leading euthanasia campaigners, Lesley Martin, was found guilty Wednesday of attempting to murder her mother by injecting her with 60mg of morphine.
Martin, who could be jailed for several years, was released on bail until she is sentenced in the High Court here on April 30.
In a case closely monitored by advocates of mercy killing, a jury deliberated for nearly six hours in this city south of Auckland before reaching its verdict.
It found the former nurse not guilty of a second charge of trying to suffocate her mother with a pillow in May 1999.
Although Martin had denied the charges, prosecutor Andrew Cameron said she could not claim she did not intend to kill her mother while also taking on the role of the "personal face" of the euthanasia campaign.
An initial investigation into the death of Joy Martin was dropped due to inconclusive post-mortem reports, but criminal proceedings were revived three years later on publication of a book by Lesley Martin, To Die Like a Dog, detailing how she tried to help her 69-year-old mother die.
Martin campaigned extensively around New Zealand for the legalisation of euthanasia ahead of the trial, which comes less than a year after parliament narrowly rejected a Death With Dignity bill at its first reading.
"This is not just my trial," she recently wrote. "This is the trial of everyone who's ever made a promise that they would help someone die gently if necessary, and the trial of every doctor who has helped and remained silent."