The appeal of Michelle Carter, the young lady who encouraged her boyfriend through text and phone call to kill himself, wasn’t taken up by the Supreme Court.
This leaves her case still intact.
The Carter case has stirred people from all over the world. HBO had made a documentary about it in 2019 “I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth V. Michelle Carter”.
Carter was sentenced for 15 months in jail. The court has not yet decided if the involuntary manslaughter conviction has violated the 1stAmendment guarantee of free speech because those were word texted or spoken.
It was in July of 2014 when Conrad Roy III of Massachusetts parked his vehicle, and he filled it with carbon monoxide, thus committing suicide after different attempts in the past. There was evidence that Carter, who was 50 miles away from Plainville, was sending him text messages daily, which lead to his suicide.
She was encouraging him to commit the plan and even talked to him two times over the phone on the night he got killed. Michelle Carter was telling a friend about what he did, at some point, he got out of the car scared, but she told him on the phone to go back in.
According to the judge, her failure to call 911 or ask for help was already supporting her conviction. Although, according to the lady’s lawyer, she cannot be convicted from text or calls, “Carter neither provided Roy with the means of his death nor physically participated in his suicide. the Massachusetts courts did not guide how to determine when a person’s words cross the line and become criminal conduct.”
The prosecutors said that she tried to discourage him first from his plan of committing suicide. Still, then she started a systematic campaign of coercion and even feeding him with his boyfriend’s insecurities. She mentioned to him that he would again fail to kill himself and sending him text messages, “just do it” and “the time right.”
The court denied her appeal, but it doesn’t mean that she will be in jail for a long time. She will be released next week after serving her sentence.
She started in February 2019 and will be released on January 23 because of good behavior. The reset of the prison time will be suspended, and she will have to serve five years’ probation. Her “good time” credits for the excellent behavior and attending programs while in prison made the anticipated release date instead of being released in May 2020.
The Sheriff’s office of Bristol County said “There have been no problems, and she has been attending programs, which is common at state facilities like the Bristol County House of Correction,” he added, “Ms. Carter continues to attend programs, is getting along with other inmates, is polite to our staff and volunteers, and we’ve had no discipline issues at all,”
On the other hand, a similar case happened in October of 2019. A college student in Boston was also indicted for an involuntary manslaughter charge for encouraging her partner to commit suicide through text messages.
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