Michelle Carter Appeal Heard In Suicide Texting Case

The state's highest court heard the appeal of an involuntary manslaughter conviction for the woman who via text messaging encouraged her boyfriend to kill himself. Michelle Carter's lawyers argued Thursday before the Supreme Judicial Court that prosecutors did not do enough to prove she was responsible for her Conrad Roy III's suicide, and that convicting someone based on words alone sets a dangerous precedent.

A ruling from the court isn't expected until 2019.

Carter, 21, of Plainville, was sentenced last summer to 15 months in jail, but she has remained free during her appeal after Judge Lawrence Moniz granted a delay on incarceration. Roy was 18 when he killed himself in 2014.

Carter, who was 17 at the time, texted Roy to get back into a truck that was running in the parking lot of a Fairhaven Kmart. Roy was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Commonwealth had asked for a sentence of seven to 12 years in a state prison. The defense asked for five years of probation with conditions, including mental health counseling, supervised probation of all mental health treatment and no contact with the victim's family.

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In this July 29, 2016, file photo Michelle Carter stands with her attorneys at the Bristol County Juvenile Court in Taunton, Mass. Jury selection is set to begin Monday, June 5, 2017. (George Rizer/The Globe via AP, Pool, File)