
Michelle Carter guilty of manslaughter in texting suicide case - geetfun
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/16/us/michelle-carter-texting-case/index.html
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dragonwriter
The charge of involuntary manslaughter seems odd; it was deliberate action,
sustained over an extended period of time so not an act in the heat of the
moment, with the clear and unmistakable intent of causing death which did lead
to death.

If suicide doesn't break the legal chain of causation (which was a necessary
legal theory for even a involuntary manslaughter charge and conviction), then
it seems to be clear-cut first-degree murder.

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tcj_phx
She was on suicide pills (so-called antidepressants) herself, but they didn't
mention this until the last paragraph:

> Earlier in the trial, a psychiatrist testified that Carter was delusional
> after becoming "involuntarily intoxicated" by antidepressants. She was
> "unable to form intent" after switching to a new prescription drug months
> before Roy's suicide, and she even texted his phone for weeks after he died,
> the psychiatrist testified.

Other sites say that she was switched to celexa. The safest ant-depressants
are the MAOIs. Last time I looked at Wikipedia's article, it said this class
had been unfairly maligned.

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booleandilemma
Interesting verdict.

How does this apply to a large group of people posting on someone's FB wall,
or DMing them on Twitter, telling them to kill themselves?

Is everyone that sends a message or a post guilty?

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geetfun
What I find disturbing about the verdict is this: If the person found guilty
of manslaughter then goes and commits suicide citing, in a suicide letter,
that the words of the judge made her do it, would the judge be guilty?

Now, I know that lawyers protect their own and the judge might make the
defence that the above argument is too far of a leap, but one could have
argued the same for the initial verdict that just by the mere suggestion and
lack of action one should be responsive for someone else's action.

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smt88
It wasn't "mere suggestion".

She told this guy to kill himself repeatedly. She encouraged him to do it. She
badgered him about it. After he did it, she didn't call the police to ask them
to try to save him. She wanted him dead.

The judge did not tell this woman to kill herself, so your hypothetical
situation isn't the same thing. There is no slippery slope here. Freedom of
speech does not extend to harmful speech. It is similarly not legal to tell
people to go out and commit acts of violence.

