Supreme Court Of Minnesota Sends Final Exit Network Case Back To Dakota County Trial Court

ST. PAUL, Minn., June 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Supreme Court of Minnesota has dismissed the State of Minnesota's appeal from a lower appellate court decision favorable to Final Exit Network in defense of charges against its volunteers.

The state's law against "advising, encouraging, or assisting" in a "suicide" is unconstitutional under the First Amendment to the extent it prohibits "advising" and "encouraging" a "suicide," the lower Court of Appeals of Minnesota ruled on September 30, 2013. The State had sought to appeal this decision, but the Supreme Court has now dismissed the appeal, letting the lower court decision stand.

The case now goes back to the District Court of Dakota County, south of the Minnesota-St. Paul area, where charges are pending against Network volunteers Dr. Larry Egbert, the former medical director, and Roberta Massey, a volunteer case coordinator.

The State's case appears to be crippled by the Court of Appeals' decision. As the case now resumes in the trial court, the Court of Appeals' decision means the State must prove a case that the Network volunteers "assisted" in a suicide. The prosecutors cannot, as they had always planned, present to the jury evidence of "advising" or "assisting" in the self-deliverance of the "victim."

Egbert was charged with "advising, encouraging, or assisting" in a "suicide," and Massey is charged solely with "aiding and abetting" in Egbert's alleged crime. The corporation Final Exit Network, Inc. is also charged. Egbert and the corporation are also charged with the misdemeanor "interfering with death scene," a charge that is unaffected by the appeals courts' rulings.

The State of Minnesota's prosecutors could appeal the Minnesota courts' decision to the Supreme Court of the United States. There was no immediate indication of whether they would. Their deadline is 90 days after the Supreme Court of Minnesota's decision of June 17, 2014.

Robert Rivas
Sachs Sax Caplan, P.L.
660 E. Jefferson St.
Tallahassee, FL 32301
(850) 412-0306

SOURCE Final Exit Network

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