Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Senator Withdraws Euthanasia Bill

Today, Senator Chris Eaton withdrew Bill SF 1880, which had sought to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in Minnesota. This was after it became clear that she did not have the votes to pass the bill out of committee.

Margaret Dore 

Dore Memo Opposing SF 1880 (Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia)

SF 1880 seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined. The bill calls these practices, “aid in dying.” The bill does not, however, require that a patient be dying. Indeed, “eligible” patients may have years or even decades to live.

The bill also legalizes undue influence as that term is traditionally defined. The bill is otherwise stacked against the individual and a recipe for elder abuse. I urge you to vote “No” on SF 1880. Don’t be fooled.

To view the full memo, click here.  To view the attachments, click here.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Press Release: Final Exit Network, Inc. Sentenced in Assisting with Suicide.


8/24/15 

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom announced that Final Exit Network, Inc. (FEN) was sentenced today by Judge Christian Wilton to a stay of execution of 21 months in prison (while a corporate entity cannot be sent to prison, under Minnesota law this sanction establishes that the offense is a felony) and 15 years of probation, and ordered to pay a fine of $30,000 and approximately $3,000 in restitution in connection with assisting Doreen Dunn in committing suicide on May 30, 2007, at her home in Apple Valley.  FEN will remain on probation until the fine and restitution is paid.  On May 14, 2015, a Dakota County Jury found Final Exit Network, Inc. guilty of Assisting Another to Commit Suicide and Interference with a Dead Body or Death Scene.

Final Exit Network Receives Maximum Sentence for Assisting Suicide

http://www.startribune.com/final-exit-network-fined-30-000-for-assisting-apple-valley-woman-s-suicide/322700141/

A Dakota County judge on Monday ordered Final Exit Network, a national right-to-die group, to pay a $30,000 fine and nearly $3,000 in funeral costs for assisting an Apple Valley woman’s 2007 suicide.
The sentence was the maximum Judge Christian S. Wilton could impose on the corporation for assisting a suicide.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Melchert-Dinkel Convicted

http://www.startribune.com/local/274484921.html

Minnesota judge convicts ex-nurse of assisting suicide of English man he encouraged online

  • Article by: STEVE KARNOWSKI , Associated Press
  • Updated: September 9, 2014 - 4:25 PM 

MINNEAPOLIS - An ex-nurse who admitted going online and encouraging people to kill themselves was convicted Tuesday of assisting the suicide of an English man and attempting to assist in the suicide of a Canadian woman, following a legal battle[] that has spanned more than four years and led to the reversal of part of a Minnesota law that outlaws the practice.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Minnesota prosecutors try to prove man's online chats assisted in suicides of depressed people

http://www.startribune.com/local/270494691.htm

By Associated Press, Updated: August 8, 2014 - 2:20 PM


Image result for nadia kajouji
Nadia Kajouji,
FARIBAULT, Minn. — Prosecutors in Minnesota argued Friday that a former nurse should be convicted of assisting suicide for sending emails and other online communications in which he urged two people to kill themselves and gave them information on how to do it.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 52, of Faribault, was back in court more than three years after he was convicted of encouraging suicides. The Minnesota Supreme Court earlier this year reversed those convictions, saying the state's law against encouraging or advising suicides was too broad.

Monday, October 22, 2012

State Supreme Court To Hear Assisted Suicide Case

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/10/19/state-supreme-court-to-hear-assisted-suicide-case/

October 19, 2012,

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The state’s highest court has agreed to hear the appeal of a former nurse whw was convicted of searching out suicidal people in online chat rooms and encouraging them to kill themselves.

William Melchert-Dinkel of Faribault was convicted in 2011. He argues he was merely practicing “free speech.” The Minnesota Supreme Court will review his appeal, but it hasn’t set a date.

Melchert-Dinkel was convicted in the deaths of a 32-year-old man from England and an 18-year-old student from Ontario. He faces about a year in jail unless his conviction is overturned.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Melchert-Dinkel Decision


The syllabus from the decision affirming Melchert-Dinkel's conviction is set forth below.  To view the entire decision, click here.  

"1. Minnesota Statutes section 609.215, subdivision 1, which criminalizes advising, encouraging, or assisting another to commit suicide, is not unconstitutionally overbroad under the First Amendment.

2. The First Amendment does not bar the state from prosecuting a person for advising, encouraging, or assisting another to commit suicide by sending coercive messages to suicide-contemplating Internet users instructing them how to kill themselves and coaxing them to do so." 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Melchert-Dinkel Conviction Upheld!


Appeals Court upholds nurse's aiding suicide conviction

by Amy Forliti, Associated Press 

July 17, 2012

[To for more information, charging document click here]
[To link to Nadia's Light, click here]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday affirmed the convictions of a former nurse who scanned online chat rooms for suicidal people then, feigning compassion, gave a British man and a young woman in Canada instructions on how to kill themselves. 



William Melchert-Dinkel, 49, of Faribault, acknowledged that what he did was morally wrong but argued he had merely exercised his right to free speech and that the Minnesota law used to convict him in 2011 of aiding suicide was unconstitutional. 

The appeals court disagreed, saying the First Amendment does not bar the state from prosecuting someone for "instructing (suicidal people on) how to kill themselves and coaxing them to do so." 

Melchert-Dinkel's attorney, Terry Watkins, was not immediately available for comment. 

Court documents show Melchert-Dinkel searched online for depressed people then, posing as a female nurse, offered step-by-step instructions on how they could kill themselves. 

Melchert-Dinkel was convicted last year of two counts of aiding suicide in the deaths of 32-year-old Mark Drybrough, of Coventry, England, who hanged himself in 2005; and 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji, of Brampton, Ontario, who jumped into a frozen river in 2008. 

He was sentenced to more than six years in prison but the terms of his parole meant he would only be imprisoned for about a year. His sentence was postponed pending his appeal, but at the time of sentencing, he was told that if his convictions were upheld, he'd have seven days to report to jail. 

In arguing to overturn the conviction, Watkins said his client didn't talk anyone into suicide but instead offered emotional support to two people who had already decided to take their lives. 

Assistant Rice County Attorney Benjamin Bejar had argued that Melchert-Dinkel wasn't advocating suicide in general, but had a targeted plan to lure people to kill themselves. Prosecutors have said he convinced his victims to do something they might not have done without him. 

Bejar said Tuesday that prosecutors were pleased with the decision. 

In a statement read at his sentencing last year, Melchert-Dinkel said he was sorry for his role in the suicides and that he realized he had rejected a unique opportunity to talk his victims out of killing themselves. 

Melchert-Dinkel's nursing license was revoked in 2009