The Massachusetts woman convicted of encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide, telling him over the phone to “get back in” his carbon monoxide-filled truck, has filed notice to appeal her involuntary manslaughter conviction.
Michelle Carter was 17 years old when she sent text messages to Conrad Roy III, 18, urging him to kill himself. Roy was later found dead on July 13, 2014, after disturbing text messages revealed during trial that were sent to Roy as his truck filled with carbon monoxide from a gas-powered water pump.
“You can’t think about it,” Carter texted Roy the day he killed himself. “You just have to do it. You said you were gonna do it. Like I don’t get why you aren’t.”
Carter, now 20, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in June. She was later sentenced to 2½ years in prison, including 15 months to be served immediately and the remainder suspended until her probation expires in 2022.
On Wednesday, Carter’s defense team filed notice in Taunton Juvenile Court that they’ll be appealing her conviction, a move her attorneys made clear following her sentencing, MassLive.com reports.
“This is a very unique and, despite the court’s findings, novel issue involving speech alone, without presence — without physical presence,” Carter’s attorney, Joseph Cataldo, told MassLive.com after her sentencing Aug. 3. “I suggest this is a very important legal issue that needs to be pursued in the appellate court.”
Roy’s mother has also filed a $4.2 million wrongful death lawsuit against Carter, who remains free after Judge Lawrence Moniz approved a stay of her jail term immediately after her sentencing, pending appeals in the state courts.