You may be charged with murder if you are not a doctor.
In September 2015, California enacted a law that is designed to allow terminally ill people to end their lives with dignity through assisted suicide. A person who helps someone end their life in California can do so without being charged with murder — but only if they are a physician. If you are not a doctor, then you can be charged with a criminal offense.
Under California law, doctors can assist their terminally-ill patients who want to end their lives. Importantly, as a murder defense lawyer in Whittier, CA can explain, this law only applies to physicians. If you decide to help a person end their life and you are not a doctor, then you will likely be charged with the crime of aiding a suicide.
Aiding a suicide is a criminal offense that occurs when a person intentionally help someone commit suicide or advise or encourage someone to commit suicide. For example, if a sick relative talks about wanting to die and asks you to procure a large number of sleeping pills to do so, you could be charged with aiding a suicide. Importantly, this charge does not apply if your actions were not intentional. If you bought that same relative sleeping pills because they told you that they were having trouble sleeping, then a skilled attorney can defend you against this type of charge.
You can also be charged with aiding a suicide if you encourage someone to commit suicide. In the example above, if your relative confided in you that they were depressed and felt like their life wasn’t worth living, you may be charged with aiding a suicide if you agreed with them and talked through different ideas of how they could end their life.
Aiding a suicide is a felony offense, punishable by between 16 months and 3 years in California state prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000. However, it is different from a murder charge. According to a murder defense lawyer in Whittier, CA, when you aid a suicide, you are helping someone else kill themself — such as by giving them the pills that they asked for and that they plan to take on their own. If you grind up those same pills and feed it to them, then you will be guilty of murder — because you killed them (even if you did so at their request). There is one exception to this general rule: if you take part in a suicide pact and you survive after killing the other person, you may be charged with aiding a suicide instead of murder.
Although assisted suicide in legal in California, it is important to remember that only doctors can help terminally ill people end their lives. If you choose to assist a person in killing themself, then you could be charged with aiding a suicide. If you kill someone at their request, then you will likely be charged with murder.
The
Chambers Law Firm is devoted to helping individuals who have been
charged with a range of charges, including murder. Contact us today
at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free initial consultation with a
murder defense lawyer in Whittier, CA.
