Michelle Carter

Vanessa Bastardo, Kaylee Prisco, Emily Casey, & Tanner

Landini
What Happened:
● July 13th, 2014 Conrady Roy III takes his life after Michelle Carter, girlfriend
at the time, hounds him via text message to end his life.
● Roy’s body was found in his pickup truck parked in a Kmart parking lot, located
in Fairhaven, MA.
● Roy carried out his suicide by finding a way to make carbon monoxide flow into
his truck.
Roy’s Background:
● Conrady Roy III was a student at Old Rochester High School, and was an
honor roll student, set to start college at Fitchburg State University. Friends &
family described him as fun, goofy, and strong.
● Roy suffered mental illness and was battling major depressive disorder and
social anxiety.
● Roy’s parents divorced several years prior to his death, which was believed to
have been a factor of his depression.
● One month prior to his death, Roy made a video explaining his depressive state
and anxiety, in which he was hesitant in trying to be positive.
Carter’s Background:
● Michelle Carter was a student at King Philip Regional High School, where
classmates described her as a nice girl who was a popular athlete. Carter also
won class superlatives “Class Clown” and “Most Likely to Brighten Your Day.”
● Carter, like Roy, struggled with mental illness, including major depressive
disorder, anxiety disorder, and body image/eating disorders.
● She previously spent an unknown period of time at a psychiatric facility, Mclean
Hospital, located in Belmont, MA.
● Her psychiatrist described her
as “meshed in a delusional system.”
Carter Continued:
● Despite being well-liked by classmates, she described herself as lonely.
● In text messages to friends describing her loneliness, Carter said “stop telling
me how beautiful I am. Beautiful girls get invited to parties and their friends
call and wanna hang out… I have like no friends. I’m alone all the time.”
Carter and Roy’s Relationship:
● Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy met while on vacation with their families in
Florida. The two discovered they lived only an hour apart.
● Carter and Roy had a relationship that was off and on.
● Despite the hour commute, the two rarely saw each other and maintained a
virtual relationship.
● Roy was rather submissive, believing Carter was a great impact on his life,
believing and doing everything she said.
Roy’s Suicide:
● Carter relentlessly pressured Roy into committing suicide via text.
● Carter’s influence on Roy’s suicide started one month prior to his
death, when the two first started talking about Roy’s will to die.
● When Roy first mentioned suicide via text, Carer’s response was
“What is harming yourself going to do!? Nothing! It’ll make
things worse!”
● Roy had asked Carter, via text, what she would do had she been
in his situation. She replied by telling him she would get help.
● Once Roy decided he was not going to get help, Carter’s attitude
changed completely, and she started pressuring him into suicide
via text.
● Some of Carter’s messages said things like “I already told my
friend you were going to do it so I’ll look bad if you don’t,” “You
need to just do it already,” and “You know this is the right thing
to do.”
Roy’s Suicide Continued:
● Roy finally carried out his suicide on July 13th, 2014 after being pressured for days by Carter
to do so.
● After Roy’s suicide, Carter contacted his family asking if she could go through his belongings
and keep some of his ashes.
● While reaching out to Roy’s family, Carter claimed she tried to save his life, saying “I’ve never
tried so hard at something before.”
● After Roy’s suicide, text messages from Carter were sent to one of her friend’s at school. The
messages from Carter said she knew the police would go through her phone and that she would
get in trouble for her involvement in Roy’s suicide.
The Case:
● Once it was found that Carter was involved in the
suicide of Conrad Roy, she was brought to court
and charged as a juvenile, as the crime occurred
when she was 17.
● The public viewed Carter as an attention seeker,
wanting to play the part of the “grieving widow.”
● Carter’s attorney appealed the Judge’s decision,
suggesting that 5 years of supervised probation
with mental health counseling would be a better
punishment and help to rehabilitate Carter.
 The Defense vs. The Prosecution:
● The defense claimed the commonwealth failed to
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Roy would not
have taken his own life if not for Carter's
intervention.
● He cited Massachusetts law that requires a physical
act to take place for an involuntary manslaughter
charge to be applied.
● Dr. Peter Breggin was brought in to testify about
his knowledge of antidepressant drugs and their
impact on juveniles. He also painted a caring, loving
yet struggling image of Carter, who was 17 at the
time of her boyfriend, Conrad Roy‘s death.
● Prosecutors say that when Roy tried to back out
of his plan to kill himself by inhaling carbon
monoxide in his truck, Carter instructed him
over the phone to get back in and follow through
with his plan.
● Carter's conduct was intentional, the prosecution
claimed. Additionally, a Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court ruling in Commonwealth v.
Michelle Carter makes it clear that physical acts
are not required to pursue a manslaughter
charge. By communicating with Roy over the
phone through texts and calls, she was "virtually
present" to commit an act.
● Cataldo pushed to have the motion dropped,
which was rejected. Prosecutors rebutted the
motion saying that “convincing someone to kill
themselves is infliction of bodily injury.”
The Conviction:

● Judge Lawrence Moniz sentenced

Carter to 2.5 years in jail with
probation eligibility after 15
months. Also sentenced to 5 years
probation.
Carter’s Appeal:
● Carter’s attorney appealed the Judge’s decision, suggesting that 5 years of supervised probation
with mental health counseling would be a better punishment and help to rehabilitate Carter.
● Cataldo, Carter’s attorney, shares the views of the defense that should the appellate court take
too long to review her trial, she could have already fulfilled her sentence which would cause
another series of legal issues.
● Roy’s family describes the feelings of anger toward Carter’s blatant disregard for their family
member’s life in press phrases such as “It is not justice.”
● Assistant District Attorney, Maryclare Flynn, said "This is not a suicide case. This is not a
First Amendment case," Flynn said. "This case has been a three-year ordeal for the Roy family.
They deserve to have this sentence you handed down be imposed today." in favor of the Roy’s
argument that Carter should face imprisonment immediately.
● Judge Lawrence granted a delay on the sentence until the case is reheard in a higher federal
appeals court.
Where We are Today:
● Carter is currently not incarcerated, as she is
waiting for her appeals to be exercised.
● She is not to have any contact with the Roy
family or any of her classmates that were called
as witnesses.
● She was ordered to submit a DNA sample, have
a mental health evaluation, stay off social
media, and not leave the state of MA.
 In Our Opinions:
is
te r c o m mitted th
lle Ca r se of
- I b e li e ve Miche t o m a n if est a sen
Emily mpt e to Tanner- I fully support the
s f e lo n y in an atte l il ln e s s causes m judge’s verdict of her being
viciou menta stable an
d
l. H e r h istory of t y e t u n guilty, however I find that
contro mpeten fe.
t h a t s h e was co e n d his own li carter was more accountable
e li e v e y t o of
b
h e r to p rompt Ro it h t h e intention and responsible for Roy’s
this led e d this crim
ew
id ent in the death than she is being held
o m m it t a d e e v
Carter c ing hidde
n, as m
d e leted the
ir for.
r e m a in h e ’d
her role Roy if free
m e s s a g es asking d o f her own
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tex es she of said
a g e s . T his impli t h e p e r manence
mes s are of tal
a n d w a s fully aw b e n e fit from men
will could eavier
n s . I b e lieve she e r a ls o a much h
actio howev l
h r e h a b ilitation, le w it h emotiona
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c in g a s she did s c y t o co mmit this
senten full comp
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n d w it h stand tria
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In Our Opinions Continued:

Vanessa- I believe Michelle Carter

committed this crime knowing exactly
what she was doing. I also believe her
history of mental illness plays a major
part in carrying out such a sick act. I
Kaylee- I believe that Michelle Carter knew exactly agree with the judge’s sentencing, but
what she was doing. I think that at first she wanted to also feel she needs intensive counseling
help him but then realized the attention she would get
and rehabilitation as part of her
after he was gone, so she changed her mind and
convinced him, thinking that no one would see the sentencing.
messages. Now I feel that she is playing off a mental
illness. I think that she will be able to change the
person she is eventually but will carry the guilt with her
everyday.
Do you agree with Carter’s sentencing?
Would you increase/decrease it,, Or
would you place her in a mental
institution to rehabilitate her?
Works Cited
● amurtish@masslive.com, Alban Murtishi |. “Michelle Carter Trial: Judge Denies Defense Motion to Dismiss Case.”
Masslive.com, Masslive.com, 9 June 2017,
www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/06/michelle_carter_trial_could_be.html.
● LeBlanc, Paul. “The Text Messages That Led up to Teen's Suicide.” CNN, Cable News Network, 16 June 2017,
www.cnn.com/2017/06/08/us/text-message-suicide-michelle-carter-conrad-roy/index.html.
● Rosenblatt, Kalhan. “Michelle Carter, Convicted in Texting-Suicide Case, Sentenced to 15 Months in Jail.”
NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 3 Aug. 2017,
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michelle-carter-convicted-texting-suicide-case-sentenced-15-months-jail-n789276.
● “Michelle Carter, Woman in Suicide Texting Case, Sentenced.” Fox News, FOX News Network,
www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/03/michelle-carter-could-get-20-year-prison-term-at-thursday-sentencing.html.