On Tuesday, in her closing argument, Bristol County District Attorney Katie Rayburn said that "the risk Carter created was reckless and amounts to involuntary manslaughter." In the age of people falling "in love via the Internet and via text," the prosecutor said that "you can encourage someone to die via text, and you can commit a crime via text."
This case is very significant for free speech. It shows that you can be charged and convicted of manslaughter if you use the wrong words with someone who is emotionally unstable. I think Michelle Carter did not handle herself or this situation in the appropriate way but she could get 20 years in prison (longer than she has been alive).
If this case sets a precedent then it sets a new limit on free speech. You cannot tell a person to "kill yourself" because if they actually do it then you might get locked up. And if a person asks you to help them go through with a suicide and you talk them through it you can also get arrested, charged, and convicted.