Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 1

Marietta golfer hit by lightning beats odds Charlie Vincent, ic THE TRAIL OF EMBRACE Glenn Robinson goes pro, helping Rstons details, Section Yoga brings serenity, relief from pain Executives are caught up in collapse of Holland-based company's stock BUSINESS, IE STRETCH I Detroit 4ftee JPres Metro Tuesday Partly cloudy. High 66. Low 45. Wednesday: Mostly cloudy. May 3, 1994 For home delivery call 222-6500 35 cents (50 cents outside 6-county metropolitan area) On Guard For 162 Years ACQUITTED OF ASSISTING A SUICIDE, DR.

JACK KEVORKIAN DECREES Tm prosecutable, I'm just not coroictable' 7 A I Jurors believed Fiegers 2 points BY DAVID ZEMAN AND JANET WILSON Free Press Staff Writers He assisted in a suicide. He confessed on television. And he begged prosecutors to put him on trial. And yet, in the state's best and perhaps last chance to convict Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a jury has decided that this evidence was not enough.

Kevorkian, 65, was acquitted Monday in the first test of Michigan's assisted suicide ban, a law passed specifically to stop him. "I'm prosecutable, I'm just not convicta-ble," a satisfied Kevorkian said. Added his lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger, "People will not convict kindness and compassion, ever." Jurors sounded a similar theme. But their decision did not come easily. It took a lot of weeping, a little shouting and a weekend of reflection, but by Monday at 1 p.m., Kevorkian was cleared.

Friday night, the vote was 7 to 5 to convict. "We're going to be there a month," juror Gwen Bryson told her daughters. But Monday morning, when the jurors reconvened, Bryson was amazed to see all the hands going up for acquittal except one. See KEVORKIAN, Page 6A No end in sight for this battle BY MICHAEL BETZOLD Free Press Staff Writer Four years after a little-known pathologist named Jack Kevorkian hooked Janet Adkins to his $30 homemade suicide machine in an Oakland County park, Michigan and the nation still are whirling in the moral, legal and political tornado he unleashed. Twenty assisted suicides, a dozen judges, countless TV sound bites, one state law and a divided commission later, the battle rages.

And it's likely to be months or years -before it's resolved. Kevorkian isn't going to stop and neither are his opponents. "I don't think Mr. Kevorkian is out of the woods yet," Gov. John Engler said Monday.

Kevorkian's acquittal clears the last remaining legal charges against the now world-famous doctor. At every turn, Kevorkian has defied the law and won. Three judges have declared the state's ban on assisted suicide unconstitutional. Polls indicate a majority of Michigan residents back legalized aid in dying See NEXT, Page 6A RICHARD LEEDetroit Free Press Without even a glance, a Thai monk passes a Dodge Viper exhibit Saturday in Bangkok. TARGET: ASIAN MARKETS Automakers hope to cash in on Thailand's strong growth Fourth in a series of reports from Thailand and Vietnam BY JOANN MULLER Free Press Business Writer BANGKOK, Thailand When you're sitting for hours in this city's notorious traffic jams, it's hard to imagine squeezing even one more car onto the pavement.

But this is the fastest-growing auto market in the world, and by the end of the decade, experts predict car and truck sales will hit one million a year twice as many as today. Dick Papscoe, General Motors top man in Bangkok, shudders to think of the traffic and pollution that would generate. He's already given up his daily jogging routine because of the smog. Instead, he keeps in shape by sprinting up and down the stairs of his air-conditioned, high-rise apartment building. The traffic is so bad that he figures it's quicker to walk home from work.

In a car, the trip could take up to three hours. Walking takes 20 minutes, if he can stand the oppressive heat or the monsoons. Personal headaches aside, Papscoe also knows that the explosive growth of Thailand and its neighbors in Southeast Asia is a huge opportunity. GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp.

are trying to reestablish themselves in the region after a 20-year absence. See THAILAND, Page 3A Big names pitch new food labels as healthy alternative Free Press Staff and Wire Services WASHINGTON Ever wonder how much fat is in a cookie, or whether frozen yogurt is really much healthier than ice cream? The Food and Drug Adrrunistration hopes its new food label requirements will help inform consumers about how the foods they eat affect their diets. All packages of processed foods will be required to carry the new labels by Sunday, although many food processors already are using them. Rules for packaged meats take effect June 6. "Using the new label, Americans will be able to make truly informed choices about the foods they eat," FDA Commissioner David Kessler said Monday in announcing a $1.5 million, three-year advertising campaign to promote the new labels.

To help spread the word, the FDA has enlisted a number of big names: children's book character Curious George, baseball stars Roger Clemens and am mmmWmmmm Wb- DAYMON J. HARTLEYDetroit Free Press Dr. Jack Kevorkian is congratulated by his sister, Margo Janus, after he was acquitted Monday of violating the assisted suicide law. Recorder's Court Judge Thomas Jackson said the jury's decision was based on emotion instead of evidence. De Klerk concedes, and ANC celebrates Comics 8D Crossword Puzzle 8D Editorials 8A Entertainment 3D Feature Page 70 Horoscope 7D Jumble 3B Lottery 2A Movie Guide 2D Obituaries 28 Stock Markets 2E Television 4D Weather 9D Volume 163, Number 364 1994 Detroit Free Press Inc.

Printed in the United States "After so many centuries, we will finally have a government which represents all South Africans. All South Africans are now free." F.W.DE KLERK through the night at the Carlton Hotel ballroom in downtown Johannesburg. Mandela joined in the jubilation dancing across a hotel stage with Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebrations erupted in black townships throughout South Africa.

Millions of supporters of Mandela's victorious African National Congress danced in the streets after his televised speech. Mandela's victory declaration came 2lh hours after President F.W. de Klerk con-See SOUTH AFRICA, Page 6A BY REMER TYSON Free Press Africa Bureau JOHANNESBURG, South Africa Kicking off a celebration never seen before in South Africa, Nelson Mandela accepted victory Monday for the first black government and declared the nation "free at last." Mandela called on people throughout the world to join the celebration. "To the people of South Africa and the world who are watching, this is indeed a joyous night for the human spirit," he told a crowd of black, white, colored and Indian supporters who danced, sang, and partied "To the people of South Africa and the world who are watching: This is indeed a joyous night for the human spirit This is your victory, too." NELSON MANDELA i See LABELS, Page 6A.