A case years in the making
The controversial case surrounding Michelle Carter has taken many twists and turns during the last few years, and now the woman’s lawyers are asking the state’s highest court to toss her conviction. Here’s how it played out:
FEBRUARY 2012: Teenagers Conrad Roy III and Michelle Carter meet, starting a complicated relationship that plays out primarily through texts and phone calls.
JULY 12, 2014: Roy drives his truck to Kmart plaza in Fairhaven. He parks, fills his truck with lethal carbon monoxide and dies by suicide. Carter, through texts and calls, encourages him to do it.
FEB. 6, 2015: A grand jury indicts Carter for involuntary manslaughter for her role in Roy's suicide.
SEPT. 22, 2015: Judge Bettina Borders throws out Carter's bid to have the case dismissed.
JULY 1, 2016: The state Supreme Judicial Court affirms Borders' decision, finding that prosecutors presented enough evidence to the grand jury to establish probable cause.
JUNE 6-16, 2017: Judge Lawrence Moniz presided over Carter's bench trial in the Juvenile Court in Bristol County.
JUNE 16, 2017: Moniz finds Carter guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection with Roy's suicide.
AUG. 3, 2017: Carter is sentenced to 2 1⁄2 years in the Bristol County House of Correction, with 15 months to be served. Carter is allowed to remain free until her state appeals are heard.
FEB. 5, 2018: Carter's defense team files an appeal to the SJC, asking it to consider her case now that she has been convicted.