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Woman Wants Statements Kept Out Of Taunton Texting Suicide Trial

TAUNTON (AP) — Lawyers for a woman who sent her boyfriend text messages encouraging him to kill himself will argue that the jury at her manslaughter trial should not be allowed to hear about statements she made to police.

A judge has scheduled a hearing for Friday on the request from lawyers for 20-year-old Michelle Carter. She is charged in the 2014 death of 18-year-old Conrad Roy III.

Roy's body was found in his pickup truck in Fairhaven on July 13, 2014. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Carter's lawyer has argued that the texts are protected free speech and that she is not responsible for Roy's suicide.

The highest court in Massachusetts ruled that a grand jury had probable cause to indict Carter based on evidence suggesting she engaged in a "systematic campaign of coercion."

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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