LOS ANGELES (AP) — Californians who helped kill their friends or spouses have avoided jail time as prosecutors struggle with the troubling issue of assisted suicide.
The Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/WxdDTO ) says an Orange County social worker received probation last week for providing yogurt laced with the drug Oxycontin to an 86-year-old man who wanted to end his life.
Also last week, a judge in San Luis Obispo County sentenced an 86-year-old man to two days already served in jail for helping kill his wife last month in a botched suicide pact.
The Times says prosecutors decided not to bring charges in at least two other cases last year.
While assisted suicide is illegal in California, such cases rarely go to trial and instead plea deals are reached.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com
