Hulu’s highly anticipated miniseries “The Girl From Plainville” premieres Tuesday. The eight-episode series is based on the true story of Michelle Carter and the text exchanges that led her friend, 18-year-old Conrad Roy III, to take his own life in his pickup truck in a Fairhaven parking lot in 2014. Plainville is the Massachusetts town where Carter lived; Roy lived in Mattapoisett.
The so-called “texting suicide case” made national headlines, marking the first time the state’s Supreme Judicial Court ruled that an involuntary manslaughter indictment could stand on “the basis of words alone.”
Though the show, created by Liz Hannah and Patrick Macmanus, is based on a 2017 Esquire article, the Globe covered the case extensively from its start. As audiences tune into the Hulu series, which takes a bit of fictional license, this reporting timeline will help viewers put the case in context.
February 2015
Accusations against Carter first came light in February 2015 when Bristol County prosecutors charged her with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Roy, who was Carter’s boyfriend. The teenagers met on separate family vacations in Florida a couple years before Roy’s death. They only saw each other in person a few times, and their relationship was mainly based on texts and phone conversations.
Authorities claimed Carter “helped [Roy] research how to die from carbon monoxide poisoning” and encouraged him to “get back in” his truck when he had second thoughts about suicide on July 13, 2014. Police searched through text messages between Carter and Roy and learned they were in close contact in the days and hours before his death. Carter’s lawyer, Joe Cataldo, said the charges were a massive overreach.
Carter, who was 17 at the time of Roy’s death, was indicted Feb. 5 and arraigned in New Bedford Juvenile Court. She pleaded not guilty and was released on $2,500 bail. Cataldo requested to have the involuntary manslaughter case against Carter thrown out.
August 2015
The text messages between Roy and Carter became public as Bristol County Juvenile Court Judge Bettina Borders heard arguments from both sides. In the messages, Carter expressed her love for Roy, but told him his family would recover and continued to encourage him to take his own life.
“You have to just do it. . . . Tonight is the night. It’s now or never,” Carter said in one of the text messages sent to Roy.
“I do want to but I’m like freaking for my family I guess,” Roy wrote.
“Conrad, I told you I’ll take care of them,” Carter responded. “Everyone will take care of them to make sure they won’t be alone and people will help them get through it.”
Cataldo argued that Carter’s messages were protected by the First Amendment, and said that state law does not say it is a crime to encourage another person to take their own life.
Read the text messages between Carter and Roy.
September 2015
Judge Borders rejected Cataldo’s argument that the text conversations between Carter and Roy were protected speech, which meant the case would likely go to trial after a review from the state’s Supreme Judicial Court.
April 2016
The SJC heard Carter’s case in court, with Cataldo again arguing that Carter’s conduct did not make her responsible for Roy’s death. The text messages between Roy and Carter remained at the center of the involuntary manslaughter case, which also examined the legal boundaries of speech that motivates individuals to harm themselves. Judges repeatedly asked lawyers for both sides about the line between encouragement and criminal manslaughter. It was noted that Massachusetts is one of only 11 states without a law against encouraging someone to take their own life.
The prosecution of Carter was on hold as the SJC reviewed Judge Borders’s decision.
July 2016
The SJC ruled that a Bristol County grand jury had probable cause to indict Carter, determining she was “personally aware that her conduct was both reprehensible and punishable.”
The unanimous decision marked the first time the court had ruled that an involuntary manslaughter indictment could stand on “the basis of words alone.” The court found that through a stream of text messages and cellphone calls, Carter had established a “virtual presence at the time of the suicide.” Legal experts said the decision broke new ground.
June 2017
Carter opted for a bench trial in the Bristol County Juvenile Court, which meant that a judge alone, rather than a jury, would hear her case.
June 6, 2017
On the first day of trial, both sides delivered their opening statements at the Bristol Juvenile Court in Taunton.
In prosecution’s opening statement, Bristol Assistant District Attorney Maryclare Flynn brought up text messages Carter wrote to Roy’s mother, Lynn Roy.
“You didn’t fail him, not even a little bit. You tried your hardest, I tried my hardest, everyone tried their hardest to save him,” Carter wrote to Lynn Roy. “But he had his mind set on taking his life.”
Flynn argued the texts to Roy’s mother were meant to mask the pivotal role Carter played in his death.
In the defense’s opening statement, Cataldo argued that the tone of Carter’s text messages was affected by the drug she was taking, Celexa. The drug, whose generic name is citalopram, is typically used to treat depression, and Cataldo said she was taking it for “impulse control issues,” among other conditions, and one of the known side effects is irritability that leads to “lashing out.” Carter had been hospitalized at least once before for mental problems, he said.
Read more about the first day of the trial.
June 16, 2017
Carter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by Judge Lawrence Moniz who ruled that Carter “recklessly goaded her boyfriend into suicide with a series of phone calls and texts, and then failed to help him.”
Carter at the time was 20, which under Massachusetts law made her eligible to be sentenced as an adult. She faced a sentence of probation, or as much as 20 years in prison.
Analysis: Experts say Michelle Carter case revolved around concept that words can kill
August 2017
Carter was sentenced to 15 months in jail, but was allowed to remain free during the appeal of her conviction. Judge Moniz determined Carter must serve time behind bars, despite her lawyer’s plea for probation.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of seven to 12 years. Roy’s relatives expressed shock at the jail sentencing and some left the courtroom in tears.
“If it was a 2 1/2-year sentence in cuffs today, it might have made us feel better,” said Jimmy Brodeur, Roy’s aunt’s fiance. “For the family it hasn’t ended. We thought maybe there would be some kind of closure today, but it’s just going to get dragged on and dragged on.”
The defense appealed the verdict on grounds that “Massachusetts does not have an assisted suicide or encouragement of suicide law in place and it’s violative of the first amendment,” Cataldo said. Legal specialists said the appeal was likely to take years before it was settled, and it did.
February 2019
Eighteen months later, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court upheld Carter’s involuntary manslaughter conviction and 15-month prison sentence. The unanimous ruling rejected legal arguments that Carter’s text messages and cellphone calls with Roy were forms of free speech protected by the First Amendment.
“We conclude that the evidence was sufficient to support the judge’s finding of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed involuntary manslaughter as a youthful offender, and that the other legal issues presented by the defendant, including her First Amendment claim, lack merit,’’ Justice Scott L. Kafker wrote for the court. “We therefore affirm.”
January 23, 2020
Carter was released from the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth after 11 months. She was released early in accordance with state law: She earned time off her sentence by holding a job and participating in programs at the jail, including education and gardening.
Brittany Bowker can be reached at brittany.bowker@globe.com. Follow her @brittbowker and also on Instagram @brittbowker.