A Minnesota nurse who was found guilty of assisted suicide had his conviction overturned after a court found the grounds for his conviction unconstitutional.
William Melchert-Dinkel, 51, was convicted on two counts of assisted suicide in the deaths of two people he met on the Internet, the Associated Press reported. The nurse was convicted on the basis of Minnesota state's assisted suicide law.
But the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned the conviction on Wednesday, ruling the part of the law that addresses "encouraging" suicide is unconstitutional.
Melchert-Dinkel's conviction was initially upheld by an appeals court in 2012, which said the state assisted suicide law does not violate the constitution.
The nurse claims he was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech when he participated in online chats about suicide with nearly 20 people, the AP reported. Melchert-Dinkel posed as a female nurse, and offered instructions on how to commit suicide to emotionally vulnerable people, the AP reported.
One man, 32-year-old Mark Drybrough from Coventry, England, hanged himself in 2005. Another woman, 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji, from Brampton, Ontario, jumped into a frozen river in 2008.
The nurse told police that he did it for the "thrill of the chase," the AP reported. He also made suicide pacts with at least 10 people. Melchert-Dinkel said he believes five of them went through with it.
Defense attorneys for the nurse argued he is not responsible for their deaths because the state law, which implicates anyone who "intentionally advises, encourages, or assists another in taking the other's own life" is too vague, the AP reported.
The court on Wednesday upheld the part of the law that prohibits "assisting" suicide. That particular part of the case was sent back to a lower court judge.
Melchert-Dinkel's year-long jail sentence was put on hold pending the lower court's appeal.
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