SAN DIEGO - Superior Court Judge Howard H. Shore was somber as he read the documents that a conservator just delivered to his chambers. The conservator's charge had a "medical emergency." 
      Shore knew what that meant. The conservator needed court permission to stop life support for a person with multiple critical diseases. 
      Physicians had concluded that there was no hope of resuscitation, Shore said as he read the documents. 
      "In ... (continued)
