{"id":74367,"date":"2017-06-07T07:12:06","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T11:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=74367"},"modified":"2017-06-07T07:15:30","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T11:15:30","slug":"74367","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=74367","title":{"rendered":"Do you seek help for a suicidal boyfriend or repeatedly encourage him to kill himself?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Her texts pushed him to commit suicide, prosecutors say. But does that mean she killed him?<\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->By Kristine Phillips<br \/>\nThe Washington Post<\/p>\n<p><iframe width='480' height='290' scrolling='no' src='\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/video\/c\/embed\/761276ba-4afe-11e7-987c-42ab5745db2e' frameborder='0' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Sitting in his pickup truck one summer day in 2014, Conrad Roy III wavered about his plan to kill himself.<\/p>\n<p>He was scared,\u00a0he texted his girlfriend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGet back in,\u201d she\u00a0replied.<\/p>\n<p>Roy did.<\/p>\n<p>The 18-year-old who\u00a0had long battled depression and suicidal thoughts\u00a0succumbed to carbon monoxide. He was found dead the following day in a Kmart parking lot\u00a0several miles outside Boston. His girlfriend, 17-year-old Michelle Carter, was charged with involuntary manslaughter.<\/p>\n<p>Now, nearly three years later, Carter is on trial in a\u00a0controversial case that experts say raises\u00a0new and contentious questions: Can a person be charged and convicted in someone\u2019s death even if she was not with the victim when he died? And can a person be found guilty of killing someone based solely on what she said in text messages?<\/p>\n<p>Such questions are critical in a state such as\u00a0Massachusetts, where assisting someone to commit suicide is not considered a crime.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecution\u2019s most damning evidence against Carter, now 20: Dozens upon dozens of text messages they allege pushed\u00a0Roy to commit suicide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"interstitial-link\"><i>[<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/education\/wp\/2017\/04\/09\/an-11-year-old-boy-killed-himself-after-his-girlfriend-faked-her-death-shes-now-facing-charges\/?utm_term=.109a522ab55c\">An 11-year-old boy killed himself after his girlfriend faked her death. She\u2019s now facing charges.<\/a>]<\/i><\/p>\n<p>During opening statements Tuesday, prosecuting attorney Maryclare Flynn said Carter played a \u201csick game\u201d with Roy\u2019s life and accused her of seeking sympathy and attention by being the \u201cgrieving girlfriend,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wcvb.com\/article\/opening-statements-to-begin-in-coerced-suicide-case\/9982290\">ABC affiliate WCVB reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Carter\u2019s attorney, Joseph Cataldo, said Roy\u2019s suicidal tendencies predated his relationship with Carter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was Conrad Roy\u2019s idea to take his own life; it was not Michelle\u2019s idea,\u201d Cataldo said, according to WCVB. \u201cThis was a suicide \u2014 a sad and tragic suicide, but not a homicide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roy\u2019s mother, Lynn, testified that although her son was \u201ca little depressed,\u201d there was no indication he might kill himself, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.masslive.com\/news\/index.ssf\/2017\/06\/michelle_carter_trial_conrad_r.html#incart_2box\">MassLive.com reported<\/a>.\u00a0He was a recent high school graduate who had just been accepted to Fitchburg State University to study business, she said.<\/p>\n<p>The two exchanged hundreds of text messages for several days before Roy killed himself. In one, she implied\u00a0that he would be better off dead: \u201cYou\u2019re finally going to be happy in heaven. No more pain. It\u2019s okay to be scared and it\u2019s normal. I mean, you\u2019re about to die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They also texted early in the morning of July 12, 2014, hours before Roy\u2019s suicide. In some of the exchanges, Carter appeared to be faulting Roy for delaying it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I guess you aren\u2019t gonna do it then, all that for nothing \u2026 I\u2019m just so confused like you were so ready and determined,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>When Roy said he wanted to go back to sleep, Carter suggested that \u201cnow\u201d is the best time to do it because everyone was\u00a0still sleeping.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust go somewhere in your truck. And no one\u2019s really out right now because it\u2019s an awkward time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>In another text that same day, she kept pushing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought you wanted to do this. The time is right and you\u2019re ready \u2026 \u00a0just do it babe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"interstitial-link\"><i>[<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/morning-mix\/wp\/2015\/08\/31\/its-now-or-never-texts-reveal-teens-efforts-to-pressure-boyfriend-into-suicide\/?utm_term=.50a0f0c1f6c9\">\u2018It\u2019s now or never\u2019: Texts reveal teen\u2019s efforts to pressure boyfriend into suicide<\/a>]<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Shortly after Roy died, Carter told a\u00a0friend that she was talking to him\u00a0on the phone when he killed himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u00a0helped ease him into it and told him it was okay \u2026 I could\u2019ve easily stopped him or called the police but I didn\u2019t,\u201d she\u00a0texted her friend.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Medwed, a law and criminal justice professor at Northeastern University, said Carter\u2019s text messages arguably encouraged Roy. What prosecutors will have to prove this week is whether Carter\u2019s\u00a0encouragement resulted in his death.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProsecutors will have to prove that Carter causes Conrad Roy to kill himself and essentially caused his death,\u201d Medwed told The Washington Post. \u201cDefense lawyers are going to argue that he\u2019s had suicidal tendencies predating their relationship. They\u2019re going to emphasize that he was alone in his car, that ultimately it was his decision. \u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere may be an issue on the extent to which she was aware of the risk. She knew he was suicidal, but did she know that he was going to go through with it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/morning-mix\/wp\/2015\/08\/31\/its-now-or-never-texts-reveal-teens-efforts-to-pressure-boyfriend-into-suicide\/?utm_term=.50a0f0c1f6c9\">indicted in 2015<\/a> and appealed, taking the case to the state\u2019s Supreme Court. Last summer, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/morning-mix\/wp\/2016\/07\/02\/i-mean-youre-about-to-die-teen-who-urged-boyfriend-to-kill-himself-will-stand-trial\/?utm_term=.620fd1064867\">court ruled that she could stand trial<\/a> for her alleged role in Roy\u2019s death. She faces up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lexisnexis.com\/clients\/macourts\/\">In the ruling<\/a>, the\u00a0court found that\u00a0Carter\u2019s \u201cvirtual presence\u201d at the time of the suicide and the \u201cconstant pressure\u201d she\u00a0had placed on Roy, who was in a delicate mental state, were\u00a0enough proof for an involuntary manslaughter charge.<\/p>\n<p>Medwed thinks\u00a0the involuntary manslaughter charge is a stretch. Although assisted suicide through coercion is considered a crime in most states, Massachusetts is one of a few where it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsually, manslaughter charges involve direct action by the defendant \u2026 some type of horrific unintentional killing where the behavior disregarded a risk, like firing a gun into a crowd,\u201d Medwed said. \u201cThis is different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"interstitial-link\"><i>[<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/morning-mix\/wp\/2016\/07\/02\/i-mean-youre-about-to-die-teen-who-urged-boyfriend-to-kill-himself-will-stand-trial\/?utm_term=.620fd1064867\">\u2018I mean, you\u2019re about to die\u2019: Teen who urged boyfriend to kill himself will stand trial<\/a>]<\/i><\/p>\n<p>David Siegel, a professor at\u00a0New England Law Boston, agreed that the case has broken ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis defendant acted remotely only through communication, through text messages, and that\u2019s different,\u201d Siegel said. \u201cWhat I think is going to be significant, at least in the facts of this case, is that this was repeated, lengthy electronic communications between two young people. The issue is going to be whether that series of communications between those people under those circumstances amount to wanton and reckless conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter\u2019s and Roy\u2019s ages and their relationship also would be critical, experts say, and Carter could argue that the text messages, although harrowing, are how teenagers communicate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe recognize that a lot of our conduct today is virtual,\u201d Siegel said. \u201cA lot of our virtual conduct today is electronic, and we recognize that there can be just as serious consequences from electronic or digital or virtual actions as from physical actions in the physical world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter waived her right to a jury trial Monday. A judge will hear her case and issue a verdict.<\/p>\n<p>Medwed said choosing a bench trial over a jury trial is a savvy move on the defense\u2019s part.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe idea is the judge has sort of seen it all and won\u2019t be shaken by the facts and horrible details,\u201d he said. \u201cWhile jurors who are unaccustomed to the horrible nature of criminal activity, they could react emotionally to facts like these and hold it against her. A judge could be a little bit more dispassionate and objective in looking at the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Lindsey Bever contributed to this report, which has been updated.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/morning-mix\/wp\/2017\/06\/06\/just-do-it-babe-woman-accused-of-pushing-her-boyfriend-to-kill-himself-is-on-trial-this-week\/?utm_term=.49d0afff6584\">http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/morning-mix\/wp\/2017\/06\/06\/just-do-it-babe-woman-accused-of-pushing-her-boyfriend-to-kill-himself-is-on-trial-this-week\/?utm_term=.49d0afff6584<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Her texts pushed him to commit suicide, prosecutors say. But does that mean she killed him?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}