Did this guy commit a crime?

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Tough one. While it would appear he did nothing other than offer "advice" he did so to people who were already emotionally and mentally unstable. The fact that he actively was searching for people who were thinking about suicide and then sought to push them toward a conclusion... He's certainly guilty of something. What the courts will do is anyone's guess; I can't say I'd be upset if they locked him up for a bit. The guy has some serious issues, a little time away may not help him but it may help keep a few unstable people from taking their own lives.
 
He would be in NH:

629:2 Criminal Solicitation. –
I. A person is guilty of criminal solicitation if, with a purpose that another engage in conduct constituting a crime, he commands, solicits or requests such other person to engage in such conduct.

You could maybe make a defense that while attempted suicide is illegal, actually committing suicide is not. Problem is, you can't actually do it without the attempt, and you can't argue that he was soliciting them to kill themselves but not attempt to kill themselves. But oddly enough, there is an argument there that he wasn't encouraging them to try to kill themselves, but to actually kill themselves. If it is an actual successful suicide, there is no crime of attempt.

While you could shoehorn a weird legal argument that way, it is one that you'd have to make to a jury, and the chances that they buy that are almost precisely zero.
 
Flagg the Wanderer said:
He would be in NH:

629:2 Criminal Solicitation. –
I. A person is guilty of criminal solicitation if, with a purpose that another engage in conduct constituting a crime, he commands, solicits or requests such other person to engage in such conduct.

You could maybe make a defense that while attempted suicide is illegal, actually committing suicide is not. Problem is, you can't actually do it without the attempt, and you can't argue that he was soliciting them to kill themselves but not attempt to kill themselves. But oddly enough, there is an argument there that he wasn't encouraging them to try to kill themselves, but to actually kill themselves. If it is an actual successful suicide, there is no crime of attempt.

While you could shoehorn a weird legal argument that way, it is one that you'd have to make to a jury, and the chances that they buy that are almost precisely zero.
Click to expand...




I would imagine the only reason committing suicide is not a crime is because as a law it would be impossible to enforce. The families of the deceased could bring a civil case, however, as life insurance policies are usually made void by suicide.

Not sure if the guy could be charged with manslaughter, or charges of lesser degrees of murder/homicide. This case surely warrants plugging this loophole.
 
Beaglebay said:
I would imagine the only reason committing suicide is not a crime is because as a law it would be impossible to enforce. The families of the deceased could bring a civil case, however, as life insurance policies are usually made void by suicide.

Not sure if the guy could be charged with manslaughter, or charges of lesser degrees of murder/homicide. This case surely warrants plugging this loophole.
Click to expand...
No, he couldn't be charged with that unless you want to argue that his words were the weapon, which is a slope you don't want to start to slide down.

Solicitation of attempted suicide? Likely. It would be an odd case where the crime itself is almost NEVER prosecuted, but soliciting the crime would make the prosecutors go for blood.

Also note that assisting suicide is a crime, but this isn't that.
 
Current Montana Law
Under current law, “a person who purposely aids or solicits
another to commit suicide, but such suicide does not occur,
commits the offense of aiding or soliciting suicide.” (45-5-
105(1), MCA). By contrast, if the death does occur, the 14
offense is deliberate homicide under 45-5-102(1)(a), MCA. 15
D. The Proposed Act
Under the proposed Act, a finding that an accused is a
“suicide predator” would be an aggravating factor for the purpose
of sentencing.
 
Beaglebay said:
Current Montana Law
Under current law, “a person who purposely aids or solicits
another to commit suicide, but such suicide does not occur,
commits the offense of aiding or soliciting suicide.” (45-5-
105(1), MCA). By contrast, if the death does occur, the 14
offense is deliberate homicide under 45-5-102(1)(a), MCA. 15
D. The Proposed Act
Under the proposed Act, a finding that an accused is a
“suicide predator” would be an aggravating factor for the purpose
of sentencing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, answering the question 'did he commit a crime' is less of a moral question and more of a question of law. In Montana, it's obviously considered a crime by the letter of the law.

Actually, it could be two questions, but they'd need to be separated by law (and the answer to this one could be different depending on where you live) and ethics. Two different things.
 
I hope they nail the f***er under the criminal law. If not, there is a very good case for diagnosing him with a severe personality disorder. As he is a demonstrable risk to others, with an untreatable condition, he can be locked away to rot.
 
Under English law, which applies to England and Wales but not Scotland:<dl><dd>"A person who aids, abets, counsels or procures the suicide of another, or attempt by another to commit suicide shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years".</dd></dl> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Act_1961

One of the victims was English, so who knows?

I'd put money on him being a psychopath. If that's the case, then it is no surprise that he can be detained indefinitely under Minnesota law:

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=253B.185&year=2010
 
Even if there was no commission of a crime, his oath as a nurse was certainly violated. Perhaps this is why he is an ex-nurse.
 
This is a class for the lawyers. IMO anyone that tries to assist you in killing yourself is scum.
 
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