Ga. high court to hear assisted suicide appeal

ATLANTA - Georgia's highest court is set to review free speech arguments by four members of a suicide group charged with helping a cancer-stricken man kill himself.

The Georgia Supreme Court has agreed to hear their appeal prior to trial to determine whether a trial court erred in ruling Georgia's statute on assisted suicide constitutional, and is set to hear arguments Monday.

The four members of the Final Exit Network were arrested in February 2009 after 58-year-old John Celmer's death at his north Georgia home. They were arrested after an eight-month investigation by state authorities, in which an undercover agent posing as someone seeking to commit suicide infiltrated the group.

Georgia law makes it a felony for anyone who ``publicly advertises, offers or holds himself or herself out as offering that he or she will intentionally and actively assist another person in the commission of suicide and commits any overt act to further that purpose.'' It sets a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

A grand jury in March 2010 indicted Ted Goodwin, the group's former president; group member Claire Blehr; ex-medical director Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert; and regional coordinator Nicholas Alec Sheridan. They pleaded not guilty to charges that they tampered with evidence, violated anti-racketeering laws and helped the man kill himself.

Lawyers for the four in December asked Forsyth County Superior Court Judge David Dickinson to dismiss the charges against them, arguing that Georgia's statute on assisted suicide is unconstitutional because they say it violates their rights to free speech, equal protection and due process.

Dickinson rejected their claim in April, writing in an opinion that ``pure speech is in no way chilled or limited'' by the law.

Supreme Court Justice David Nahmias has recused himself from hearing the case and will be replaced by a Fulton County Superior Court judge.

``Under the judicial canons, Justice Nahmias felt it was appropriate to recuse himself,'' said court spokeswoman Jane Hansen. She declined to elaborate.