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2.01 MB
Extraction Summary
6
People
0
Organizations
1
Locations
2
Events
2
Relationships
3
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Manuscript draft / legal memoir
File Size:
2.01 MB
Summary
This document is a page from a manuscript draft (dated April 2, 2012) discussing the legal distinctions between 'mercy killing' and 'mercy suicide.' It focuses on the Florida case of Patricia Rosier, who ended her life due to cancer, and the subsequent murder trial of her husband, Peter Rosier. A footnote discusses a separate case handled by the author involving 'altruistic filicide-suicide' where a mother killed her autistic son to protect him from an abusive father.
People (6)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Patricia Rosier | Deceased / Subject |
Woman with incurable cancer who committed 'mercy suicide'.
|
| Peter Rosier | Defendant / Husband / Doctor |
Tried for first-degree murder, conspiracy, and attempted murder regarding his wife's death.
|
| The Author | Author / Attorney |
Referenced as 'I' in footnote 70 ('In another one of my cases...'). Likely Alan Dershowitz given the source context.
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| Unnamed Mother | Defendant / Client |
Mentioned in footnote 70; killed her autistic son and attempted suicide to protect him from abuse.
|
| Unnamed Son | Victim |
8 year old autistic boy mentioned in footnote 70.
|
| Unnamed Biological Father | Alleged Abuser |
Mentioned in footnote 70 as abusing the son.
|
Timeline (2 events)
Locations (1)
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
|
Location where the Rosier case occurred.
|
Relationships (2)
husband, Peter
In another one of my cases...
Key Quotes (3)
"The prosecutor sought the death penalty, analogizing the crime to 'a serialized gang murder.'"Source
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Quote #1
"Although the media characterized Patricia Rosier’s death as a 'mercy killing,' it is more aptly described as a 'mercy suicide,' because she alone made the decision to end her life."Source
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Quote #2
"When what was originally intended as an unassisted mercy suicide cannot be completed without the help of others, it becomes, in the eyes of a prosecutor, a criminal mercy killing."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017279.jpg
Quote #3
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (2,721 characters)
4.2.12
WC: 191694
WC: 191694
Assisting Mercy Suicide
Another highly emotional case in which science was used to establish the immediate cause of death involved the mercy killing by a doctor of his cancer-ridden wife.
Although the media characterized Patricia Rosier’s death as a “mercy killing,” it is more aptly described as a “mercy suicide,” because she alone made the decision to end her life. A mercy suicide, when committed by an adult of sound mind, is not a crime.
Mercy killing—the taking of the life of another person who is suffering and usually no longer sentient—is different from mercy suicide in the eyes of the law. The letter of the law simply does not recognize mercy as a defense to murder: it regards all deliberate killings as murder, whether done in the name of love or hate. But suicide is not a crime, though in some religions, it is regarded as a sin.
The line between mercy suicide and mercy killing is not always clear. Sometimes it is simply a function of timing or happenstance. When what was originally intended as an unassisted mercy suicide cannot be completed without the help of others, it becomes, in the eyes of a prosecutor, a criminal mercy killing.70
What began as a clear case of mercy suicide by Patricia Rosier ended up with the trial of her husband, Peter, for first-degree murder, conspiracy to murder, and attempted murder. The prosecutor sought the death penalty, analogizing the crime to “a serialized gang murder.”
The basic facts were not in dispute, but the legal consequences of those facts gave rise to one of the most contentious and emotional cases in Florida legal history.
After being told she had incurable cancer and had only weeks to live in excruciating pain, Patricia made the fateful decision to pick the time and circumstances of her death, not wanting to leave it to the unpredictable clock of the cancer. When she told her husband of her decision, Peter said
70 There is a third category that combines mercy killings with mercy suicides. In another one of my cases, a mother engaged in the combined act of trying to kill her autistic and sexually abused son and trying to kill herself. She succeeded in the former and failed in the latter. She reasonably believed that the child’s biological father was repeatedly abusing the 8 year old autistic boy and that her former husband was planning to kill her, which would leave the child in the hands of his father.
This phenomenon too has a name: altruistic filicide-suicide. At bottom it is a genre of mercy killing, although one with possible legal defenses of necessity (choice of evils) and justification (killing to protect her son). That case is pending as I write these words.
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