TAUNTON, Mass. (CN) – In a manslaughter-by-texting case, the Massachusetts woman who convinced her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself was sentenced Thursday to two and a half years in prison, setting what some say is a dangerous precedent for how the First Amendment is applied to modern communication.
Michelle Carter's sentence includes 15 months of incarceration followed by probation until Aug. 1, 2022.
Immediately following the sentence, however, the judge agreed to stay Carter's prison time until the defense exhausts state appeals. Her probation begins immediately.
The terms of her probation do not allow her to profit from her crime, meaning she cannot participate in interviews or movies about her case.
Carter's attorney, Joseph Cataldo, told reporters after the sentencing that Carter will be vindicated because she did not break any law when she encouraged her boyfriend to take his own life. Cataldo reiterated that everything Carter said was considered free speech and protected by the First Amendment.
Prosecutor Katie Rayburn, who called Carter’s actions “a deliberate well-thought out campaign that caused the death of Conrad Roy,” also made a brief statement, saying the stay was disappointing.
Before handing downing the sentence, Bristol County Judge Lawrence Moniz said he was not swayed by Carter’s age at the time of the incident, which was just three weeks shy of 18, among other factors in making his decision.
“I have not found that Carter’s age, maturity or mental illness had any impact on her actions,” he said. Nevertheless, he did acknowledge that Carter is “still a child before the court.”
Judge Moniz went on to say one of the statements that affected his decision the most was one read by Rayburn on behalf of Lynn Roy, the mother of the Conrad Roy III, the man who killed himself at Carter’s insistence.
“I pray a law will come forth so that another mother does not have to endure what I have,” Judge Moniz said, repeating the mother’s wishes.
Before Judge Moniz announced Carter’s sentence, he first listened to the Roy’s father and teenage sister, both of whom took to the witness stand.
Sunlight filtered into the third-floor courtroom through a wall of windows as Roy’s father, Conrad Roy Jr., began: “I cannot begin to describe the despair I feel over the loss of my son.”
His dark hair contrasted against a light blue striped button down shirt tucked into khakis.
“My son was my best friend,” he continued “The last words I said to my son were, ‘I love you.’ I miss him every moment of every day.”
Camden Roy, the teenage sister of the deceased, also approached the witness stand before the young blonde girls in short shorts led by middle-age women in summer dresses that filled the pews. She wore a black and white striped long-sleeved dress and her long light brown hair was brushed away from her face as she read her statement in a barely audible voice.
She talked about how her brother taught her to throw footballs and baseballs, and while she was describing how much would miss him, she began to cry, her words lost in gasps of breaths.