Illegal or just immoral? Film explores texting suicide case

BOSTON >> Michelle Carter sent her suicidal boyfriend countless text messages encouraging him to follow through on his plan to take his own life until he actually did.

Two years after Carter was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a case that gripped the nation, the director of a new documentary wants viewers to decide for themselves whether her actions were criminal.

The two-part film, debuting July 9 on HBO, digs into the legal case against Carter and explores a different side to the young Massachusetts woman portrayed by prosecutors as a cruel manipulator who coaxed Conrad Roy III into killing himself for attention.

“There was this very simple story put forth that Michelle Carter was this good-looking ice queen that set about to kill a young man to become popular,” said Erin Lee Carr, the director of “I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth V. Michelle Carter.” “I knew that that wasn’t going to be correct, but it would ultimately be the narrative that was set forth by the prosecution.”

The documentary is coming to TV screens as Carter’s lawyers appeal her case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Carter, now 22, began serving her 15-month jail sentence in February, but her attorneys are expected to file their appeal with the nation’s highest court by July 8.

Carter opted for a bench trial, which means a judge decided her fate. Carr says she wants the film to act as the jury trial Carter didn’t get.

“We really wanted to present the case in a way that you became her jury,” Carr said.

The judge found then-17-yearold Carter caused 18-year-old Roy’s death when she ordered him in a phone call to get back in his carbon monoxide-filled truck in 2014. The phone call wasn’t recorded, but the