‘It’s now or never': Texts reveal teen’s efforts to pressure boyfriend into suicide

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/%E2%80%98it%E2%80%99s-now-or-never-texts-reveal-teen%E2%80%99s-efforts-to-pressure-boyfriend-into-suicide/ar-AAdOwEu

Michelle Carter knew that if anyone found her text messages to her boyfriend Conrad Roy III, she might go to jail.

“[if the police] read my messages with him I’m done. His family will hate me and I can go to jail,” Carter texted a friend after her 18-year-old boyfriend used a gas-powered water pump to commit suicide in the parking lot of a KMart.

Carter had asked Roy in a text message to delete her messages before he carried out the suicide last summer, but investigators found them anyway.

According to prosecutors, Carter pressured her boyfriend to go through with suicide for almost a week before he carried out the act. She counseled him to overcome his fears; researched methods of committing suicide painlessly; and lied to police, his family and her friends about his whereabouts during the act itself and after, prosecutors said.

[TBoneTX 46,271]

Actions have consequences...

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

She should go to jail for a long time. She practically killed him herself.

[Sousuke 1,214]

She seems to have a mental illness IMO. I personally think the legal system should not be involved.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

She seems to have a mental illness IMO. I personally think the legal system should not be involved.

She coached a young man to kill herself. She was fully aware of her actions. She even said if they find those text messages, I'm done. She knew what she was doing the whole time.

Sounds like an Angel of Death to me. If she didn't get caught, she'd probably start a hotline or online service trying to reach suicidal people so she can push them over the edge.

[Sousuke 1,214]

She coached a young man to kill herself. She was fully aware of her actions. She even said if they find those text messages, I'm done. She knew what she was doing the whole time.

Sounds like an Angel of Death to me. If she didn't get caught, she'd probably start a hotline or online service trying to reach suicidal people so she can push them over the edge.

This is different from the typical bully cases. I do think this is a borderline 1st amendment case because she gave only information and IMO didn't threaten him or do anything else that was strictly illegal. She didn't give him the tools or components to kill himself.

If we are saying providing information and encouragement for suicide is a crime it opens a whole can of legal worms.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Sousuke

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

This is different from the typical bully cases. I do think this is a borderline 1st amendment case because she gave only information and IMO didn't threaten him or do anything else that was strictly illegal. She didn't give him the tools or components to kill himself.

If we are saying providing information and encouragement for suicide is a crime it opens a whole can of legal worms.

This is true. But pushing someone to kill themselves is a murky area. Personally, I think she should do jail time. But like you said, what she did wasn't against the law.

[Sousuke 1,214]

This is true. But pushing someone to kill themselves is a murky area. Personally, I think she should do jail time. But like you said, what she did wasn't against the law.

I think in civil court the family has a case though.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Sousuke

[Teddy B 17,252]

This is different from the typical bully cases. I do think this is a borderline 1st amendment case because she gave only information and IMO didn't threaten him or do anything else that was strictly illegal. She didn't give him the tools or components to kill himself.

If we are saying providing information and encouragement for suicide is a crime it opens a whole can of legal worms.

I believe this would fall under aiding and abetting laws.

[TBoneTX 46,271]

99% of all lawyers give the rest a bad name.

Seriously: Agree with the civil liability.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I believe this would fall under aiding and abetting laws.

Agree. If not, it should be.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

If she suggested he kill himself, and he blew her off about it, would anyone think she needed to be in jail? Or would she just be written off as a weirdo for suggesting it?

Not defensive her; I think what she did was sick. As in mentally ill. But HE is the one who did the crime, not her. He listened to her. I suspect he would have gotten where he is today even without her. It may have taken longer, but obviously he wanted to kill himself.

[Teddy B 17,252]

If she suggested he kill himself, and he blew her off about it, would anyone think she needed to be in jail? Or would she just be written off as a weirdo for suggesting it?

Not defensive her; I think what she did was sick. As in mentally ill. But HE is the one who did the crime, not her. He listened to her. I suspect he would have gotten where he is today even without her. It may have taken longer, but obviously he wanted to kill himself.

Criminal

Aiding and abetting is an additional provision in United States criminal law, for situations where it cannot be shown the party personally carried out the criminal offense, but where another person may have carried out the illegal act(s) as an agent of the charged, working together with or under the direction of the charged party, who is an accessory to the crime. It is comparable to laws in some other countries governing the actions of accessories, including the similar provision in England and Wales under the Accessories and Abettors Act 1861.

It is derived from the United States Code (U.S.C.), section two of title 18:

Where the term "principal" refers to any actor who is primarily responsible for a criminal offense.

(a) Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.

(b) Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or another would be an offense against the United States, is punishable as a principal.

For a successful prosecution, the provision of "aiding and abetting" must be considered alongside the crime itself, although a defendant can be found guilty of aiding and abetting an offense even if the principal is found not guilty of the crime itself. In all cases of aiding and abetting, it must be shown a crime has been committed, but not necessarily who committed it.^[3] It is necessary to show that the defendant has wilfully associated himself with the crime being committed, that he does, through his own act or omission, as he would do if he wished for a criminal venture to succeed.^[4] Under this statute, anyone who aids or abets a crime may be charged directly with the crime, as if the charged had carried out the act himself.^[5] This is distinct from the concept of being an accessory after the fact, a charge distinct from being a principal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiding_and_abetting

[Sousuke 1,214]

I believe this would fall under aiding and abetting laws.

Suicide itself is no longer a crime in the US (there may be an outlier i'm unaware of).

There are aiding and abetting laws in some states but if you look at the history of prosecution it typically involved a person acquiring the physical suicide method or transporting the person to a location where the suicide took place. (There was a big deal in the UK regarding transportation - families that took a relative abroad to a location where euthanasia was legal could be charged upon reentry to the UK).

Lets think outside the current framework for a moment. Oregon has an assisted suicide law and while its very limited, I think assisted suicide laws could spread to other states and become more liberal. If we enter a time where assisted suicide is legal without restrictions, this case will look very different.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

Sousuke beat me to it by seconds. No crime committed.