Melchert-Dinkel, criminal charges & legal proceedings
Short version:
Minn law advising, encouraging, or assisting suicide
2011 - Trial court - conviction for aiding suicide for intentionally advising, encouraging, or assisting suicide
2012 - Minn. Ct of Appeals confirmed.
2014 - Minn Supreme Court reversed the conviction, declared Mn statute unconstitutional in part.
Ct ruled merely advising or encouraging suicide was speech protected by First A'mt of US Const,
but speech which actually assisted a suicide was not protected. Sup Ct remanded to trial ct, to make determination of whether def.
actually assisted the suicide per the statute.
IIUC, under this ruling, a def could lawfully tell, phone, or text to someone '
You should kill yourself' or
'You ought to take enough poison to die' which would be
'advising or encouraging suicide' per statute.
'Encouraging or advising' ^stmts, protected as free speech, per 1stA'mt, are diff from 'assisting' stmts.
IIUC, 'assisting suicide' stmts actually
cause the suicide (to contribute to? in whole or n part.?)
Hard to imagine a s
tmt which in and of itself would cause suicide.
Anyone?
I have not yet found the court's full opinion, but think it might enlighten us more
about what might constitute an 'assisting stmt' which would support a conviction under MN law.
And MC is charged under Mass. (assisting involuntary?) manslaughter law, so result c/b/different, imo.
Long version from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Francis_Melchert-Dinkel
"M
elchert-Dinkel was convicted on March 15, 2011, in a criminal complaint filed in Rice County, Minnesota.[SUP][6][/SUP] He was charged under a rarely used state law with advising, encouraging, or assisting Kajouji and Drybrough in taking their own lives using internet correspondence.[SUP][2][/SUP][SUP][35][/SUP][SUP][36][/SUP] He was ordered to stay off the internet while his criminal case is pending.[SUP][37][/SUP]
While counseling to commit suicide is illegal, laws in North America and Britain have not previously been successfully used to prosecute anyone for promoting suicide over the internet.[SUP][4][/SUP] He was found guilty of aiding a suicide under Minnesota law, which provides penalties for anyone who intentionally advises, encourages, or assists another in taking the others own life", punishment can be up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $30,000.[SUP][7][/SUP][SUP][14][/SUP][SUP][21][/SUP][SUP][38][/SUP] He was sentenced on May 4, 2011, to 360 days in jail.[SUP][39][/SUP]
"On July 27, 2012, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. The Minnesota Supreme Court subsequently agreed to review the case. On March 19, 2014, the supreme court reversed the conviction and remanded.[SUP][40][/SUP] The high court held that the Minnesota statute under which Melchert-Dinkel had been convicted was unconstitutional in part. The court held that merely advising or encouraging suicide was speech protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and that those prohibitions were unconstitutional. It went on to hold, however, that speech which actually assisted a suicide was not protected.
"Since the trial court's had made factual findings only with respect to encouraging and advising, the supreme court reversed the conviction. It remanded, the case, however, for the lower court to determine whether Melchert-Dinkel had actually assisted the suicides within the meaning of the statute." bbm
Sorry but you are wrong.
Melchert-Dinkel was charged with aiding the suicides of Drybrough and Kajouji and convicted in 2011 by Rice County Judge Thomas Neuville, who found that he intentionally advised and encouraged the victims to take their lives.
Defense attorney Terry Watkins appealed, saying Melchert-Dinkels actions might have been immoral, but they were not illegal. Melchert-Dinkel remained free on appeal.
The justices found that*part of Minnesotas law that bans someone from encouraging or advising suicide is unconstitutional because it encompasses speech protected under the First Amendment.
But the justices upheld part of the law*that makes it a crime to assist in someones suicide *and said speech could be considered assisting.
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/1...ide-gets-jail/
So depending on her states supreme justice. She can be found guilty.