Free Speech No Defense for Urging Suicide

He should have gone with the jury trial.  Only a judge, with the usual Black 
Robe Disease, would make such a ruling.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ENCOURAGING_SUICIDES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-16-06-49-25



Judge: Free speech no defense for urging suicide  

AP Photo/Robb Long  
  
 
     
  FARIBAULT, Minn.     (AP) -- Freedom of speech is no defense for a  former 
nurse who engaged in "lethal advocacy" when he encouraged an  English man and 
Canadian woman to kill themselves after searching for  depressed people over the 
Internet, a Minnesota judge said in delivering  a guilty verdict against the 
man.
The judge  found William Melchert-Dinkel, 48, guilty Tuesday of two counts of  
aiding the suicides of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England, who  hanged 
himself in 2005, and Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, Ontario, who  jumped into a 
frozen river in 2008. Melchert-Dinkel declined a jury  trial and left his fate 
to Rice County District Judge Thomas Neuville.
Melchert-Dinkel's  attorney, Terry Watkins, said the defense was disappointed 
with the  verdict and planned to appeal. Watkins said appellate courts will have  
to answer whether Melchert-Dinkel's actions rose to the level of a crime  or 
were protected speech in the context in which they occurred, given  the defense 
view that the victims were already predisposed to suicide  and his online 
statements didn't sway them.
In  his ruling, Neuville stuck mostly to a dispassionate recitation of the  
facts in the case. The judge again rejected the defendant's argument  that his 
actions amounted to free speech, affirming a pretrial ruling he  issued in 
November. He also reaffirmed his rejection of the defense  claim that 
Melchert-Dinkel's online statements didn't sway the victims.
"Melchert-Dinkel  was not merely expressing ideas about suicide The court finds 
that  defendant's speech imminently incited the victims to commit suicide, and  
can be described as 'lethal advocacy,' which is analogous to the  category of 
unprotected speech known as 'fighting words' and 'imminent  incitement of 
lawlessness,'" Neuville wrote.
After  sentencing, which is scheduled for May 4, Watkins said, his next stop  
will be the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and the defense is prepared to  appeal 
to higher courts if necessary. He said the defense didn't dispute  the facts as 
the judge laid them out in his 42-page ruling, but  disagreed on whether they 
added up to proof of guilt beyond a reasonable  doubt.
"We will carry this as far as judicially allowed," Watkins said.
Minnesota's  rarely used aiding suicide law carries a maximum penalty of 15 
years in  prison and a $30,000 fine. Data from the Minnesota Sentencing  
Guidelines Commission show that since 1994, only six people have been  sentenced 
on the charge. One was sent to prison for four years; the rest  received local 
jail time, probation or both.
Rice County Attorney Paul Beaumaster said he would seek a sentence consistent 
with the earlier cases.
"I  think justice was served," Beaumaster said. "I think it was a just  verdict 
based on the facts of the case, and convictions were earned on  both counts."
Prosecutors said  Melchert-Dinkel, who lives in the southern Minnesota city of 
Faribault,  was obsessed with suicide and hanging and sought out potential 
victims  online. When he found them, prosecutors said, he posed as a female  
nurse, feigned compassion and offered step-by-step instructions on how  they 
could kill themselves.  Melchert-Dinkel told police he did it for  the "thrill 
of the chase." He acknowledged participating in online chats  about suicide with 
up to 20 people and entering into fake suicide pacts  with about 10 people, five 
of whom he believed killed themselves.
Drybrough's  mother, Elaine Drybrough, said she was glad the judge agreed  
Melchert-Dinkel was guilty. If he had been cleared, she said, it would  have 
sent a signal to other people contemplating similar actions that  encouraging 
suicides is permissible.
"He's been told it's not all right," she said.
Kajouji's  mother, Deborah Chevalier, said she's concerned the penalty won't be 
in  line with the crime and that Melchert-Dinkel's appeal will delay a  final 
resolution.
"I've said all along that a  crime is just as vile and offensive whether it be 
committed in our own  homes or over the Internet," she said in an e-mail.
During  oral arguments in February, Watkins called his client's behavior "sick"  
and "abhorrent" but said it wasn't a crime. He said Drybrough had been  ill for 
years and went online seeking drugs to overdose, while Kajouji  was going 
through a rough time in her life, had a miscarriage after  drinking heavily and 
was depressed. Watkins said they were both  intelligent people who wouldn't be 
swayed by his client's online  "babbling."
Beaumaster said Melchert-Dinkel's intent was to see them die, and the law is 
designed to protect vulnerable people.
"That's  the point. That's who he looked for," he said. "He targeted individuals  
he knew he could have an influence on. Were they predisposed?  Absolutely!"
Minnesota authorities began  investigating in March 2008 when an anti-suicide 
activist in Britain  claimed someone in the state was using the Internet to 
manipulate people  into killing themselves.
The Minnesota Board of Nursing revoked Melchert-Dinkel's license in 2009.

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