Manslaughter By Psychological Abuse

When psychological abuse is weaponized and results in another person’s death, can this be sufficient legal grounds to charge and convict the defendant with manslaughter?

This article reviews a case where the facts supported a charge of manslaughter and examines the legal basis supporting and against such a conviction.

Psychological Abuse – A Deadly Weapon

Involuntary Manslaughter

Case Facts

This case involved a former college student (the victim’s girlfriend) who was charged with manslaughter for having caused her boyfriend to commit suicide through emotional abuse.

Manslaughter charges were filed against the girlfriend for allegedly causing the death through psychological abuse of the decedent throughout their 18-month relationship.

Prosecutors Argument

The prosecutors argued that the boyfriend was suicidal, depressed, and hence was in a vulnerable state. The defendant was present and verbally and psychologically abused the victim when he jumped from the building to his death.

Law enforcement found nearly 47,000 text messages in the two months before the victim took his life. According to law enforcement, the defendant’s text messages were manipulative, hateful, abusive, demeaning, and insulting, urging the decedent to take his life and that she would be better off without him.

The prosecution claimed that the defendant had mental and emotional control over her boyfriend and was fully aware of her boyfriend’s depression and vulnerability.

Defendant Plead Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter

On December 23, 2021, the defendant pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to a suspended jail sentence of 2 1/2 years and ten years of probation. (Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Inyoung-You)

Legal Analysis – Reckless Conduct – Criminal Negligence

While the defendant urged her boyfriend to kill himself hundreds of times, whether the defendant committed a crime is still an open question. Under the Law of Massachusetts, Involuntary Manslaughter is generally defined as:

Involuntary manslaughter is an unintentional killing resulting from recklessness or criminal negligence.

While the wrongful and vicious conduct of the defendant’s psychological and emotional abuse continuously leveled against the defendant was morally offensive, inhumane, and deserving of severe punishment, it was legally questionable whether such conduct constituted the crime of manslaughter.

Under the civil law of negligence, there can be little doubt that the defendant’s conduct was a factual cause of her boyfriend’s death. The next issue to resolve was whether the boyfriend’s suicide was a foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s conduct, such that the defendant’s mental state could be interpreted as intentional rather than negligent.

Involuntary Manslaughter Does Not Require Specific Intent

A distinguishing aspect of involuntary manslaughter is that it is not a specific intent crime, so neither premeditation nor specific intent is necessary to prove the crime of involuntary manslaughter.

Since the crime of involuntary manslaughter did not require proving specific intent, the prosecution would just have to prove that the defendant’s act was reckless and, under the circumstances, foreseeable.

This is especially true given that involuntary manslaughter covers various circumstances and behavior. Given the difficulty of such cases, different state jurisdictions have laws that vary widely when determining the punishment and the defenses available to the accused.

Note: The following law review article closely tracks the facts and circumstances of the above case, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Inyoung You. See News Article

See Law Review Article: “You Just Need to Do It!”: When Texts Encouraging Suicide Do Not Warrant Free Speech Protection, 62 B.C. L. Rev. 1017 (2021)

Consulting A Criminal Defense Attorney

For more information on involuntary manslaughter, consider consulting with a Criminal Defense Attorney.