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Attorney in texting suicide case asks for not guilty verdict

Defendant Michelle Carter listens to testimony at Taunton District Court in Taunton, Mass., in Taunton, Mass., Thursday, June 8, 2017. Carter is charged with involuntary manslaughter for encouraging Conrad Roy III to kill himself in July 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Defendant Michelle Carter listens to testimony at Taunton District Court in Taunton, Mass., in Taunton, Mass., Thursday, June 8, 2017. Carter is charged with involuntary manslaughter for encouraging Conrad Roy III to kill himself in July 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool) Defendant Michelle Carter listens to testimony at Taunton District Court in Taunton, Mass., in Taunton, Mass., Thursday, June 8, 2017. Carter is charged with involuntary manslaughter for encouraging Conrad Roy III to kill himself in July 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)

TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) – An attorney for the woman charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly convincing her boyfriend to kill himself through a series of text messages has asked a judge to find his client not guilty.

The request for a directed verdict Friday is standard legal procedure.

If the judge rejects the request, the defense is expected to start calling witnesses.

The attorney for Michelle Carter, charged in the July 2014 suicide of Conrad Roy III, told a judge Friday there is insufficient evidence to show that his client caused Roy’s death.

The prosecution, which rested Thursday, countered that Carter caused Roy’s death through text messages in which she urged him to get back in his vehicle as it filled with carbon monoxide.