Judge finds US girl guilty for urging boyfriend to suicide

World
Europe

A Massachusetts judge found a young woman guilty of manslaughter on Friday for a series of text messages to her boyfriend urging him to commit suicide in 2014.

Michelle Carter, now 20, cried and shook as Bristol County Juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Moniz found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the series of texts and phone calls urging her 18-year-old boyfriend, Conrad Roy, to kill himself.

The trial heard that Carter and Roy exchanged hundreds of text messages in which Carter, 17 at the time, urged him to follow through on his plan to kill himself, to conceal it from his parents, lie to his mother and select a secluded parking lot.

But Judge Moniz said it was her instructions to Roy to get back into the vehicle during a telephone call after he stepped out, and her failure to sound the alarm that was crucial to the conviction.

Judge Lawrence Moniz listens to defense attorney Joe Cataldo's closing argument during the trial of Michelle Carter in Bristol Juvenile Court in Taunton, MA on Jun. 13, 2017. /VCG Photo

Failure to take reasonable steps to alleviate the risk to another "can result in a charge of manslaughter," he noted in his decision.

"This court, having reviewed the evidence and applied the law thereto, now finds you guilty on the indictment charging you with the involuntary manslaughter of the person Conrad Roy," Moniz told the packed court room.

Observers, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, criticized the verdict as an overreach.

"Carter's behavior was horrible, morally reprehensible, but I'm not sure that equates with legal responsibility," said Daniel Medwed, professor of law at Northeastern University in Boston. He added that the verdict is likely to face appeal.

While about 40 US states have laws criminalizing encouraging another person to commit suicide, Massachusetts does not.

Carter, who waived her right to a jury trial, faces up to 20 years in prison. She will remain on bail until sentencing on August 3 in Taunton, south of Boston.

[Source: Agencies]