Testimony continues in the trial of Michelle Carter, who is accused of encouraging and contributing towards the 2014 suicide of her boyfriend, Conrad Roy. Both Carter and Roy were high school students at the time. Carter was 17, Roy was 18. Prosecutors allege that Carter was aware that Roy wanted to kill himself, and that in the days before Roy’s death, Carter sent him text messages encouraging and even pressuring him to go through with it. Carter has waived her right to a jury trial, so the judge will determine her fate at the conclusion of a bench trial. Watch live coverage of the trial in the player above. Court is expected to resume at 9:00 am ET.
Roy died of carbon monoxide poisoning on July 13, 2014. Prosecutors allege that he was in communication with Carter in the moments before his death. They say that when Roy began feeling the effects of the gas, he exited the truck he was in, only for Carter to convince to go back inside.
On Friday, Carter’s defense attorney, Joseph Cataldo, made a motion for Judge Lawrence Moniz to find Carter not guilty, after the prosecution rested their case. Cataldo denied the motion, so now Cataldo is presenting a case for Carter’s defense.
Carter is charged with involuntary manslaughter and faces up to 20 years in prison.
[Image via WPRI screengrab]