Photo courtesy of the NYT

We've been tracking this sad but interesting case for over a year. The case involves a series of texts [literally thousands] a teenager sent to her friend who was contemplating suicide; the decedent was on-the-fence, but the young girl's texts put him over the edge.

Michelle Carter was sentenced to 15-month county jail term yesterday in Massachusetts for involuntary manslaughter of her friend, Conrad Roy. In June, she was convicted following a bench trial.

Ms. Carter was found to be "virtually present" when Roy committed suicide through carbon monoxide poisoning. She encouraged him -some would say badgered him- to complete the act by sending a series of text messages to his cell phone.

Last year, her defense lawyer moved to quash the indictment; this maneuver went all the way to the Massachusetts Superior Court. The High Court made the following ruling:

It is important to articulate what this case is not about. It is not about a person seeking to ameliorate the anguish of someone coping with a terminal illness and questioning the value of life. Nor is it about a person offering support, comfort, and even assistance to a mature adult who, confronted with such circumstances, has decided to end his or her life. These situations are easily distinguishable from the present case, in which the grand jury heard evidence suggesting a systematic campaign of coercion on which the virtually present defendant embarked — captured and preserved through her text messages — that targeted the equivocating young victim’s insecurities and acted to subvert his willpower in favor of her own. On the specific facts of this case, there was sufficient evidence to support a probable cause finding that the defendant’s command to the victim in the final moments of his life to follow through on his suicide attempt was a direct, causal link to his death.

Rather than take the matter before a jury, Ms. Carter's lawyers opted for a bench trial; a trial where the judge makes all the findings of fact.

Of course, her conviction and sentence will be appealed. Carter's lawyers assert that the lack of a state law banning assisted suicide and the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution form the basis of their appeal.

Prosecutors sought a lengthily prison term. They asserted that Carter wanted the attention that she thought would come from being the grieving girlfriend.

Some legal experts applaud the relatively light sentence, pointing to the teen aged angst and drama constantly swirling about the Internet. This was an electronic communication crime involving two very young and emotionally challenged individuals.

Both victim and perpetrator struggled with mental illness in this case. The judge apparently sentenced Carter to local confinement -rather than to the state penitentiary- in order for her to be close to her family support network.

One the one hand, Carter was very far away from the decedent on the night he took his own life. On the other hand, when he got out of his truck during the act, texting Carter all the while, she called him and talked him back into the truck.

We will let you know if Carter's appeal gets any traction. What a sad case.

Post #602
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Kelsey Raffaele killed at 17

As of today, Michigan roads have become a little bit safer.  On January 8^th, 2013 Governor Rick Snyder signed into law Public Act 592 of 2012, also known as Kelsey’s Law.  The new law, which takes effect today, is named in honor of Kelsey Raffaele, 17, of Sault Ste. Marie, who died tragically in a cellphone-related automobile crash in 2010.

The law bans 16 and 17 year old drivers with a level 1 or a level 2 driver’s license under Michigan’s graduated licensing system from using a handheld phone while driving. 

A level 1 driver has the most restrictions, while a level 2 driver only has a few restrictions –such as the number of passengers allowed and limits on nighttime driving.  A teen who is at least 17 and has at least six months of driving experience as a level 2 driver may qualify for a level 3 license- the typical, unrestricted MI driver's license.

Violation of the law is a primary offense, meaning police can pull over a young driver for no other reason than being on a cell phone.  However, both the governor’s office and law enforcement spokespersons signaled that, in most cases, Kelsey’s Law will be enforced only after detection of another moving violation; this will effectively making enforcement of the law secondary.

A violation of the law will result in a civil infraction with a fine to be determined by the local jurisdiction, and could cause the level 1 or 2 driver’s license period to be extended.  No points will be assigned to the driver's record and drivers will not be punished for using a vehicle's integrated hands-free phone system or for using cell phones to report an emergency.

 

Officers say that Kelsey's Law is not about punishing teenagers driving on a probationary license, but all about saving lives.  We here at the Law Blogger could not agree more.

Nationally, car crashes are the leading cause of death for young drivers.  In 2011, 154 fatal crashes in Michigan were caused by a driver under 21. So far this year, there have been more than 300,000 crashes due to cellphones in the US, and not all of these crashes are attributable to teen-drivers.

While an all-out cell phone ban for all drivers would be overreaching, we do believe teen-drivers often learn behaviors from their parents, who may be multitasking [talking, texting and e-mailing] while driving.  We note that it is illegal in Michigan for any driver to text while driving and believe it’s important for parents to set a good example.

Michigan roads are a bit safer today thanks to Kelsey’s Law.  Yet, one has to wonder how much safer Michigan roads could be if experienced drivers took heed of the new law, even though it does not apply to them.

As the bumper sticker says, “Get off the phone and drive!”

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Unanimously, the 5 members of the National Transportation and Safety Board called for all states to impose a complete ban on texting, emails, and even cell phone use (hand held or hands free) while operating a vehicle.  The NTSB's little-noted but highly significant recommendation came out before the holidays last month in the wake of a series of deadly car crashes involving distracted drivers.

In one of the crashes, a Missouri teenager caused a death accident after texting 11 times in as many minutes.  There seems to be a correlation between youth and distracted driving which is compounded by the youth's relative inexperience on the road.

Now the question is whether the state legislatures have the political will to outlaw what has become ingrained behavior for most driving Americans.  Even if distracted driving is banned, there is also a question of enforcement.

With all the OEMs producing vehicles outfitted with navigation systems and sophisticated communication software built right into the car, state legislatures will soon have lunch dates with automotive industry lobbyists; for sure.  And then there is the cell phone industry; not likely to stand on the sidelines and watch this type of prohibitive legislation develop.

Here is the legislative breakdown so far, with new laws appearing on the books every year: 35 states and the District of Columbia have banned texting while driving; 30 states have banned all cell phone use by a beginning driver; 9 states have banned hand-held cell phone use while in a car.

The NTSB's firm position is simply that use of electronic communication devices is too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States.  When the NTSB announced the recommended ban early last December, it chairwoman, Deborah Hersman, said, "We're not here to win a popularity contest.  No email, no text, no update, no call is worth a human life."

You got that right sister; you sure got that right.  We will be monitoring the state legislation on this topic and will report back to you with significant developments.

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Last winter, a 14-year old from Olympia, WA wanted to send her boyfriend a special momento.  In an exercise of judgment she would come to profoundly regret, she snapped a full-on frontal nude with her cell phone.

She then attached the pic to her boyfriend Isaiah's number and pushed send, sealing her fate.

For his part, Isaiah was coaxed by another girl he thought was good friends with his girlfriend into forwarding the pic.  Actually, the other girl was a rival for Isaiah's affections with an epic episode of cyber-bullying on her mind.
 
Annotating the pic with a disparaging comment, the rival did a global attach, publishing it to all her contacts.  From there, it went viral within hours.

Before school started the next day, parents and middle school administrators alike were scrambling with damage control.  By mid-day, local police were on the scene conducting interviews.  Isaiah was arrested at the school by the end of the day.

Isaiah, the rival, and another middle school student were charged with distributing child pornography; a felony.  The three teenage offenders spent at least one night in the local juvenile detention center and were brought before a magistrate in standard blue jumpsuits.

The community was pitched into an uproar.  Some parents wanted the accused teens tried as adults; others wanted the subject of the photo charged along with the publishers.

In the end, the prosecuting attorney moderated the charges, offering a misdemeanor reduction equivalent to our "disorderly conduct", with the opportunity to earn a dismissal in exchange for some very targeted community service.

As a component of their probation, the teen misdemeanants were required to create a public service  campaign about the hazards of sexting.  The prosecutor fashioned a sentence that would both capitalize on the aftershock of the incident as well as educate the public about what was acceptable conduct for their children.

Looks like "mission accomplished".

But you would be fooling yourself to think that our culture's sexual saturation is going to change anytime soon. Our children are bombarded with images on a 24/7 basis.  Remember Motorola's Super Bowl ad of Megan Fox snapping a pic of herself in a bubble bath.  Wonder who she sent that pic to...?

We here in the Detroit area are well familiar with sexting hazards; it basically brought down the hip-hop Mayor after all. [Well, technically a perjury conviction accomplished that; but still, just sayin....]

So think twice before you push send folks.  This bit of digital common sense applies to any manner of content you are about to publish.

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