Defense: Boyfriend’s suicide longtime plan
Jury to hear Carter lawyers’ claims
Attorneys for Michelle Carter, the woman accused of using text messages to convince her high school boyfriend to kill himself, say the young man was eyeing suicide for years and that a trove of documents will prove that to a jury.
“He had a plan and he acted in conformity with that plan, and he had the plan for years, and he was finally successful,” said Joseph Cataldo, an attorney for Carter, after a hearing yesterday.
“His plans were pretty detailed. He had a general plan and a specific plan, and he acted on one of the specific plans,” Cataldo said.
Conrad Roy III killed himself in his truck by inhaling carbon monoxide in Fairhaven on July 13, 2014, and prosecutors say he was acting at the behest of Carter, then 17, who they allege goaded him on through a series of texts.
But Carter’s attorneys yesterday pointed to a stack of documents that purportedly show Roy, who was 18 when he died, wanted to end his life as far back as 2011.
Superior Court Judge Lawrence Moniz allowed a defense motion to let a jury see the entirety of the documents.
“Sadly, there appeared to be a continuum of Mr. Roy’s issues from 2011 up to the time of his passing,” Moniz said, adding later: “These records suggest very strongly that there was a continuum of concern for Mr. Roy.”
Bristol prosecutor Maryclare Flynn fought against the release of the records, indicating that other documents could more clearly show what the massive stack of paperwork lays out without distracting the jury. She added that Roy had been reporting his mental issues to professionals until he started talking to Carter.
“Once Michelle Carter gets involved, he is no longer seeking help from others — he is getting what he needs from her,” Flynn said, pointing at Carter, who watched intently next to her defense team.
Defense attorneys have argued that family problems may have led to Roy’s downward spiral. They are looking to prove that Carter, who is now 20, did not cause his death, but was simply speaking to him when he executed his final plan.
“He was constantly beating the drum, saying, ‘I want to die. I want to kill myself,’ ” Cataldo said. “These records show that he had acted upon his plans, tried to commit suicide ... and he made various statements of wanting to die.”
The documents, which include medical records and other personal information, have been impounded.