Judge set to announce verdict in texting suicide case
June 16, 2017 at 12:43 a.m.
| Updated June 16, 2017 at 12:50 a.m.
by
Associated Press
FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2015 file photo, Michelle Carter listens to defense attorney Joseph P. Cataldo argue for an involuntary manslaughter charge against her to be dismissed at Juvenile Court in New Bedford, Mass. Carter is charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly pressuring Conrad Roy III, 18, of Fairhaven, Mass., to commit suicide on July 13, 2014. Judge Lawrence Moniz is deliberating Carter's fate following a jury-waived trial that provided a disturbing look at teen depression and suicide. It is not clear when the judge will issue his verdict. (Peter Pereira/The New Bedford Standard Times via AP, Pool, File)
TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) - A juvenile court judge is set to announce his verdict in the trial of a Massachusetts woman charged with manslaughter for sending her suicidal boyfriend a barrage of text messages encouraging him to kill himself.
Judge Lawrence Moniz will announce his decision Friday in Bristol Juvenile Court in the trial of Michelle Carter.
Carter could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2014 suicide of 18-year-old Conrad Roy III. Roy was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in his pickup truck.
Prosecutors say the then-17-year-old Carter badgered Roy to act on his suicidal thoughts.
Carter's lawyer argues that Roy had a history of depression and suicide attempts and was determined to take his own life.
