Assisting a suicide is a felony offense in California.
Recently, former California state Assemblyman Steve Clute was charged in Riverside County Superior Court with assisting his wife in committing suicide. His wife, Pamela Clute, was a math professor and administrator at the University of California, Riverside. She was found dead at their Palm Desert home in August 2016. Mr. Clute is charged with giving his wife the handgun that she used to kill herself.
Unless you are a licensed physician, assisting another person in committing suicide by helping or encouraging them in any way to kill themselves is a felony offense under California law. For purposes of the statute, a person commits the crime of assisting a suicide when he or she deliberately helps someone commit suicide or encourages someone to commit suicide. The crime requires that the prosecutor prove intent — that the person charge did something with the intent that the other person would be helped in or encouraged to commit suicide. If the prosecutor cannot prove this motivation, a Riverside criminal defense lawyer can argue that you did not commit the crime of assisting in a suicide.
In this case, prosecutors allege that Mr. Clute gave Mrs. Clute the gun that she eventually used to take her life. Mrs. Clute suffered from a debilitating medical condition that involved back problems and shooting pain down her legs. Medical treatment failed to relieve her symptoms. While California does have an assisted suicide law that allows physicians to prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients, Mrs. Clute was not terminally ill.
Mr. Clute pled not guilty to the charge of assisting in his wife’s suicide, with his lawyer noting that he was not present when his wife actually killed herself, and that the couple was still very much in love after being married for four decades. This charge is believed to be the first of its kind to be filed in Riverside County.
Under California law, assisting a suicide is a felony offense, with a potential penalty of up to three years in California state prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000. While it can be difficult to defend against these types of charges, a skilled Riverside criminal defense lawyer can argue that your actions were not deliberate. For example, in the case of Mr. Clute, his attorney could claim that if he gave his wife the gun, he did not do so to encourage her to commit suicide. Instead, it could have been for any number of reasons, such as to protect herself when he was away. If he did not know that she would use the gun to harm herself, then he cannot be found guilty of the crime of assisting a suicide.
Cases involving assisted suicide can be complex, because the defendant in the case is often grieving the loss of a loved one while also facing criminal charges. If you have been charged with this charge or any other criminal charge, contact the Chambers Law Firm today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com. We will zealously defend you against assisted suicide and all other charges, and will protect your rights and your freedom.
