The man convicted of advising and encouraging former Carleton student Nadia Kajouji to commit suicide will not be granted appeal, according to The Canadian Press (CP).
The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the initial sentence that handed William Melchert-Dinkel 360 days in jail July 17.
Melchert-Dinkel, an ex-nurse, was found guilty on two counts of aiding suicide in a Minnesota court last May.
In both cases — 18-year-old Kajouji’s death in 2008 and the 2005 death of 32-year-old Mark Drybrough from England — Melchert-Dinkel was found to have posed as a female nurse in an online chat room, who then instructed and coaxed the victims into killing themselves.
While the defence argued Melchert-Dinkel’s conviction was unconstitutional because of his right to free speech, the court found that “the First Amendment does not bar the state from prosecuting someone” for his actions, CP reported.
Melchert-Dinkel’s attorney, Terry Watkins, plans to continue fighting for an appeal by taking it a tier higher to the state Supreme Court, according to CP.
