BOSTON (WHDH) - The Supreme Judicial Court has ruled Massachusetts teenager Michelle Carter can face involuntary manslaughter for allegedly convincing her friend to commit suicide.
Prosecutors say Carter helped her friend, Conrad Roy, come up with a plan to kill himself in 2014.
They also say she then sent him text messages pushing him to kill himself when he procrastinated.
Roy, 18, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in his truck two years ago.
In its statement, the SJC says the grand jury was “justified in returning an indictment of involuntary manslaughter against the defendant” because it is “inherently a crime that involves the infliction of serious bodily harm.”
With Carter’s father looking on, the teen’s defense lawyer argued that Massachusetts is one of a handful of states that has not passed laws making what she did a crime.
They argued what she said to Roy is free speech because there was no manipulation through lies or threats.
The judges asked prosecutors whether charging the teen might open the door to prosecuting people for counselling terminally ill people considering suicide.
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