young girl tells "friend" to kill himself. Is she responsible?

[republicanchick]

There was a debate on FOX earlier about the teen who encouraged her "friend" (Some friend she ws) to kill himself.. very tragic that he listened to that demonized... uh.. female dog

And the people discussing it acted like she is not responsible for his death.

I think that is stupid. She may not be responsible for first degree murder (although you could reasonably conclude...) but she is guilty of manslaughter or something like that..

http://video.foxnews.com/v/40860148...urging-friend-to-kill-himself/?#sp=show-clips


Life is cheap since Roe v Wade came along

++

 

[PureX]

Why does assigning responsibility for this matter to you?

 

[TrakeM]

The legal case to be made here, if there is one, has nothing to do with Roe vs Wade. I'm no lawyer, so there may be a law that was broken that I don't know of. All I can think of is that maybe inciting violence could be relevant? I'm not sure.

 

[GFR7]

Well, when he was in his car ready to gas himself, and then decided against it, got out, and texted her, she texted, "Get back in." This was her best friend, and she held a big vigil for him after his death. She needed to be exposed and punished in some manner.

 

[Granite]

In the same vein, what of this situation?

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/250...suicide-after-dad-posts-public-shaming-video/

 

[PureX]

Well, when he was in his car ready to gas himself, and then decided against it, got out, and texted her, she texted, "Get back in." This was her best friend, and she held a big vigil for him after his death. She needed to be exposed and punished in some manner.

Why?

 

[TomO]

Why?

That's what I'd like to know...I remember reading about this and wondering why she would do such a thing. lain:

....Or were you asking why she needed to be exposed? :AMR:

 

[Rusha]

Why?

That's what I'd like to know...I remember reading about this and wondering why she would do such a thing. lain:

....Or were you asking why she needed to be exposed? :AMR:

She is responsible for *encouraging* him to end his life. Had she called 911 OR notified his family of what he was getting ready to do, he might have received the suicide intervention needed to get him past this dark period in his life.

Apparently for her, the idea of death and the ongoing grief of his family was a joke.

 

[Angel4Truth]

You wouldn't believe the number of people who think that if a person is threatening suicide, that they just want attention and will never do it and that if they really want to do it, they wont tell anyone.

Then some people threaten it for a long time but wouldn't do it.

I would like to know her thinking or side on it.

 

[Angel4Truth]

From another article about this:

But Roy's father, Conrad Roy Jr., told Detective Scott Gordon of the Fairhaven Police that his son suffered from anxiety, "so much so that they had difficulty getting him to go to school and into the classroom with other kids," Gordon wrote in a police report. Roy had canceled his planned move to Fitchburg.

To his parents, Roy was quiet and spent a lot of time at home. He was taking antidepressants. His father said that leading up to his suicide, his son didn't want to go to work and "was always struggling and depressed but he got through it and he didn't complain too much about it," Gordon wrote.

Roy's closest friends knew that Roy had tried to kill himself previously.

http://www.people.com/article/teen-accused-boyfriend-suicide

I think what she said was revolting, but she didn't take his life, he did.

She later said:

She would later write to that same friend: "His death was my fault … he got out of the car, and I told him to get back in … because I knew he would do it all over again the next day."

She didnt take him seriously and was most likely fatigued by hearing him threaten it all the time.

 

[Town Heretic]

It's a felony of one sort or another to aid or encourage someone to commit suicide.

Here's a state by state look.

In Alaska, by way of example, it's manslaughter, § 11.41.120 (a) (2)

 

[Angel4Truth]

It's a felony of one sort or another to aid or encourage someone to commit suicide.

Here's a state by state look.

In Alaska, by way of example, it's manslaughter, § 11.41.120 (a) (2)

Those are assisted suicide laws, she didn't assist. She wasn't even there. Shes also been charged with manslaughter, not assisted suicide.

She didn't cause his death, he did.

 

[Town Heretic]

Those are assisted suicide laws, she didn't assist.

The topic of the article is assisted suicide laws. Most of them aren't so titled.

She wasn't even there.

You don't have to be.

Shes also been charged with manslaughter, not assisted suicide.

Read the list. That's the charge used in assisted suicides for a number of jurisdictions.

She didn't cause his death, he did.

That's why it isn't first degree murder.

 

[Angel4Truth]

She wasn't even there.

You don't have to be.

There is a reason she wasnt charged with assisted suicide, she didnt assist him. Period. Youre reaching, just like the cops are reaching to charge her with involuntary manslaughter.

Read the list. That's the charge used in assisted suicides for a number of jurisdictions.

That's why it isn't first degree murder.

She wasn't charged with assisted suicide.

 

[Town Heretic]

There is a reason she wasnt charged with assisted suicide, she didnt assist him.

I don't know how to relate this any more clearly than I did in my last, but in many jurisdictions the charge isn't "assisted suicide" but something else.

In Mass. there isn't a particular law, but the matter is controlled by "principles, customs and case law, rather than on a specific statute."

In more than a few the charge will be manslaughter. In this case it's apparently involuntary manslaughter. That's the charge the district attorney is leveling. Why? Because she appears to have encouraged an emotionally distraught and unbalanced person who thought she was his friend and who had stopped the process that would lead to his death into getting back into the instrument of his death and completing that process.

And this is before we get into potential civil litigation.

 

[Angel4Truth]

I don't know how to relate this any more clearly than I did in my last, but in most jurisdictions the charge isn't "assisted suicide" but something else.

In Mass. there isn't a particular law, but the matter is controlled by "principles, customs and case law, rather than on a specific statute."

In more than a few the charge will be manslaughter. In this case it's apparently involuntary manslaughter. That's the charge the district attorney is leveling. Why? Because she appears to have encouraged an emotionally distraught and unbalanced person who thought she was his friend and who had stopped the process that would lead to his death into getting back into the instrument of his death and completing that process.

And this is before we get into potential civil litigation.

Again, how did she assist him, did she set it up? Did she provide his vehicle, did she know for a fact that he was right there about to do it even? Good luck counselor.

You are reaching badly.

I guess according to you if i told someone to drop dead and then they killed themselves, i would be guilty of assisted suicide.

We all know the words drop dead, is assistance in death right?

 

[aikido7]

Not one of us is "to blame" but we are all accountable. Or should be anyway.

It's hard to see people taking responsibility when they are so engaged in pointing the finger away from themselves.

 

[Town Heretic]

Again, how did she assist him, did she set it up? Did she provide his vehicle, good luck counselor.

You are reaching badly.

You're just not qualified to make that call. But as to the prosecutor, who is, whether or not he succeeds in mounting a successful prosecution, he's considering Commonwealth v. Welansky, 316 Mass. 383, which established that wanton and/or reckless conduct leading to culpability can be evidenced by either affirmative acts (like encouraging someone who has interrupted a suicide attempt to try again) or by failures to act where a duty exists (like being a close friend who fails to notify anyone his friend is in the act of committing suicide). The act or omission has to embody a disregard for the likely consequence/harm to another (like understanding her encouragement could reasonably lead to his death).

It isn't a reach, successful or not.

I guess according to you if i told someone to drop dead and then they killed themselves , i would be guilty of assisted suicide.

No, but then I'd know the standard in play before I ventured an opinion.

 

[Angel4Truth]

You're just not qualified to make that call.

Neither are you. Thats why she wasnt charged with that. Do you even fully understand what assisted suicide is and what those laws were designed to stop? They have nothing to do with this.

She didn't assist him.

Ill wager she doesn't get convicted either of what she was actually charged with.

His parents knew he was mentally ill, they had more responsibility for seeing about him than anyone else. An offhanded comment while disgusting, didn't cause his death, he did, plain and simple.

 

[GFR7]

Why?

Similar to what Rusha has said, she viewed his death as a bit of fun: She looked forward to being the grieving best friend, holding a vigil for him, posting Facebook messages to his parents.

This is why she said "Get back in." when he got out of the car. She should have called 911. He didn't really want to go through with it. How deplorable was her behavior? Legally, maybe not, but it was MASSIVELY unethical and horrid. :nono: