Michelle Carter found guilty in texting case
She egged on her boyfriend’s suicide
The Washington Post
In a landmark case, a Massachusetts judge has ruled that Michelle Carter, who urged her boyfriend through phone calls and text messages to kill himself, is responsible forhis death.
Lawrence Moniz, a Bristol County Juvenile Court judge, announced Friday that Ms. Carter, 20, is guilty of involuntary manslaughter after placing Conrad Roy III in a situation that led to his suicide in 2014.
Legal experts say the decision could have national implications as courts grapple with how to apply long-standing laws as technological changes have taken interactions online. In Ms. Carter’s case, the ruling suggests that in effect, she was whispering inMr. Roy’s ear, “kill yourself, kill yourself,” said Laurie Levenson, a criminal law professorat Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. And it essentially says that those words canlead someone to suicide.
Ms. Carter, who could face upto 20 years in prison, will be sentenced in August. Her attorney could not be reached for comment, but he told reporters he was “disappointed,” according to the BostonGlobe.
While handing down the verdict Friday morning, Judge Moniz said Mr. Roy, who was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning on July 13, 2014, outside Boston, had followed Ms. Carter’s instructions and placed himself in a “toxic environment” in histruck.
Mr.Roy, 18, and Ms. Carter, then 17, had been texting about death in the weeks leading up to the tragedy, according to court records. In one message, Ms. Carter told him: “You’re finally going to be happy in heaven. No more pain.It’s okay to be scared and it’s normal. I mean, you’re aboutto die.”
Judge Moniz, however, focused on Mr. Roy’s final moments when he wavered, stepping out of the truck — and Ms. Carter told him to “Get back in.” The judge said that though Ms. Carter knew Mr. Roy was in trouble, she took noaction.
“She admits in a subsequent text that she did nothing — she did not call the police or Mr. Roy’s family,” Judge Moniz said in court. “Finally, she did not issue a simple additional instruction: ‘Get out of the truck.’ ”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts issued a strong rebuke, arguing the conviction violates free speech protections.
Roy had a history of depression and had attempted suicide in the past, but his family was hopeful he would get through it. However, police said text messages they recovered suggest that by 2014, Carter had tired of Roy’s idle talk of suicide and wanted him to go through with it.