The Girl from Plainville (2022) s01e07 Episode Script

1 Previously on "The Girl from Plainville" I'm going to direct your attention to July 12th of 2014.
That was the last day you saw your son alive.
How was he that day? I know my son.
And he didn't want to die.
Not that day.
I'm here because of Michelle Carter.
I don't like seeing innocent people prosecuted.
I want to help this girl.
48 Hours wants to talk to me.
- You gonna do it? - He's not just a dead kid on the news, you know.
He's Coco.
Go away.
What's wrong? I'm the murderer's sister, that's what's wrong! Get the fuck out! Can you read the highlighted text message from Michelle? "Then I am left crying in bed at night "because I have no one "and I have no plans, no future.
I am nothing.
" If you ever tell anyone about me, I will never, ever fucking talk to you again! Got it? Your text freaked me out.
Call me back.
I'm sorry.
I didn't know you cared that much.
How could you say that? I don't even have anybody's number.
If something happened to you, I wouldn't know who to call.
I know, I know, I'm I'm sorry, okay? Is this just a game to you? No.
Then tell me what to do.
Nothing.
You've done plenty.
What does that mean? You've been here for me.
You've listened.
It's just not enough.
I'm never satisfied.
I'm stuck.
In my own little reality, and I thought everything was good, but It's not.
I'm not going to leave you.
You need me.
Stay.
Conrad? Carter has waived her right to a jury trial, which means the judge alone will decide whether or not she is guilty.
If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.
Could you please describe your educational background? I went to Harvard and Case Western Reserve Medical School, researching the psychophysiology of anxiety.
And can you please list and describe your professional activities? Oh, golly.
There's a lot of them.
I have been practicing psychiatry full time since 1968.
I teach.
I have a subspecialty in clinical psychopharmacology.
And what is that? It's the study of the effect of drugs on the actual clinical, real-life behavior of people.
And have you given any presentations for any governmental bodies? Yes.
Well, thank you for carving out some time with us today, Dr.
Breggin.
You're quite a busy man.
Of course.
Thank you for the invitation.
Your Honor.
Move it along.
Uh, Dr.
Breggin, for our non-medical experts in the room, could you illustrate, uh, for us what an SSRI is and how it affects the brain? The SSRI is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
And what is serotonin? Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that originates deep in the brain.
It can affect our judgment, love, and empathy.
When serotonin is naturally created by the brain, these these receptors fire.
And the idea behind people who are depressed or or angry is that maybe the feed to the receptor gets backed up.
The brain isn't doing its job.
Right, and the SSRI, it what? The SSRI, like Prozac and all SSRIs, blocks the removal of serotonin.
And unfortunately, this is very unstable because the brain reacts to this as a toxic intrusion.
And how does the brain react to this toxic intrusion? After the first dose even, the brain stops producing serotonin.
So instead of creating a clear pathway for the serotonin to enter the brain, Prozac and other SSRIs can actually halt the natural production of serotonin entirely? Yes, it's possible.
Oh.
Does the FDA identify the SSRIs in a specific way? They developed a black box warning that remains the highest level class warning for all of these drugs.
Does Celexa have a black box warning? Yes, it does.
And do you know specifically what the black box warning is on Celexa? The black box warning specifically says that there's an increased risk of suicide in people aged 24 and younger.
And to the best of your knowledge, was Conrad Roy III on Celexa at the time of his death? Yes, he was.
Thank you.
No further questions.
We'll break for lunch.
Am I really selfish? No.
Why? Well, for wanting to kill myself so bad and dragging you along with all this.
No.
You're not selfish.
Don't ever think that.
And you're not dragging me along.
I chose to stay.
I don't want to fail again.
That's what I'm scared of.
Obviously, you don't really want to die then.
Because you wouldn't be scared to try.
You'd want to try anything as much as you could.
I guess you're partially right.
I'm just still researching and hoping that I find a better way.
I am so right.
Part of me wants you to try something and then fail.
Just so you could go get help.
I love you.
Say it back.
I love you too.
I'm gonna turn in.
Okay.
You good? Yeah, I'm good.
Don't stay up too late, okay? Hey.
Can I get a beer? Is it over? Lunch.
Thank you.
Some of this stuff this doctor's saying We thought we'd be doing the right thing.
Right? Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know.
You know what I can't stop thinking about? What? The fucking guacamole.
I mean, how the hell has this kid never had guacamole before? Well, I mean, it's not like we're known for it here.
Fair.
Your mom says you're running.
You even talked to my mom? Yeah, you sent her over to check on me.
I just didn't like the idea of you being alone, that's all.
I'm training for the Boston Marathon.
You? Yeah? You who drives two blocks.
I who used to drive two blocks.
They say it makes your nipples bleed.
They're not lying.
Hot.
I'm doing it for suicide awareness.
Running it, I mean.
You know, raising money for it.
That's good, Co.
Yeah.
He'd be real proud.
I tried drinking all the water I could, but nothing happened.
What the fuck is that? Why didn't you tell me you tried? All of a sudden, you're trying and serious about it? I'm sorry, I want to tell you the truth, but I don't want to scare you.
I want you to always tell me the truth.
Never be sorry about it.
I want it to look like an accident.
Why? Well, I'd like people to think that and not feel guilty.
Can I tell you something? Of course.
There's nothing anyone can do that's gonna make me want to live.
Come on! Come in! You okay? I can't really talk about it.
That doesn't sound good.
"Ooh, Constantine! I love you, Constantine.
" - Give it back, Cassie - You guys write love letters.
Ooh, does he send you dick pics? I said give it back! Jesus Christ, fine.
I'm just playing.
This is life and death, Cassie.
Hey.
I'm sorry about Cassie.
- She was - Can be a bitch.
Sometimes.
Now he's not responding.
Conrad? Talk to me.
You can trust me.
Can I? Of course.
I'm here for you.
God, he's so messed up.
He'll only talk to me about things, and he said that he won't be with me anymore if I tell anyone.
So you have to promise me, okay? You can't tell anyone, Natalie.
Seriously.
You have to promise.
Of course.
Of course, I won't say anything.
Is there anything I can do? Oh, it's just I don't even know where to begin.
What information did you review in connection to this case? Every available medical record for Michelle and Conrad.
I evaluated every available text, uh, or phone or Facebook message for both people.
I interviewed a half a dozen people in great detail who knew Michelle.
And and why the interviews? I needed to get, uh, a baseline for Michelle's behavior.
Was Michelle known to do mean, angry, hostile things? Before age 12 was key for me because at 12, she begins to develop anorexia and is put on Prozac, and she's then medicated off and on for her entire adolescence.
And did that have any significance for you ultimately in forming certain opinions on this case? It shows that she's a very vulnerable person who does very severe cutting of herself in order to control her pain.
And did the text messages between Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy have any relevance or significance to your clinical analysis of the case? Oh, yes.
He's a very distressed young man who has a lot of family conflict that, uh, he's dealing with, and he is constantly telling Michelle that he's gonna kill himself and there's nothing she can do.
And this goes on and on for hours and hours and months and months of text.
And she gets more and more desperate.
And this boy that she loves says that he's going to kill himself and that he's even got plans.
This is an intolerable position for her to be in.
Doctor.
What is involuntary intoxication? It means that there's a disruption in the neurochemistry of the brain where intoxication is observable through thoughts and behaviors, activities.
And during an intoxication, the person generally has loss of judgment, maybe confusion, and often loss of memory of the event.
And how do you analyze and determine if someone is involuntarily intoxicated by drugs? Well, first, you need to know, can the drug do this? Does Celexa? Do all SSRIs cause marked changes in behavior? Yes.
And when SSRIs cause abnormal reactions, which involuntary intoxication is the extreme, they cause agitation, anxiety, um, panic, irritability, and a dramatic, sometimes instant, shift in behavior.
It's in the diagnostic manual.
And specifically, as to Michelle, do you have an opinion as to whether or not she was involuntarily intoxicated? Yes, I do.
Yes, she was.
There's a significant change in her behavior about 11 days before Conrad's suicide on July 12th.
And as a result of this involuntary intoxication suffered by Michelle Carter, do you have an opinion as to whether or not she was able to conform her actions and conduct to the requirements of the law? She couldn't.
She was enmeshed in a delusion where she was thinking it was a good thing to help him die, that she could mitigate the circumstances, reassure him that he was going to heaven, and that she could then go to his family and help them to mourn less severely.
And are you able to pinpoint, in your opinion, of course, around when Michelle became involuntarily intoxicated? On or about July 2nd, she begins to help him go to heaven.
I don't know if it's bad or good that you understand me this way.
If I do end up Dying I don't want to go to hell.
I don't belong there.
You won't go to hell.
I promise you.
Heaven needs a hero.
You're gonna help me with this tomorrow.
With what? I've been reading about it on the internet.
I've been talking to people online about it.
Talking to who? I don't know, it's the internet.
Are you really sure you're gonna do this? I'm going to try again.
When I'm home.
Tomorrow.
Promise me something.
Sure.
Say goodbye before you do it.
Of course.
How's he doing? Not good.
Yeah.
It's a good thing you're doing.
Seriously.
He's really lucky to have a friend like you.
Girlfriend.
Right.
Girlfriend.
Thanks, Cassie.
Some things I've been doing is trying to realize that it's not realistic.
What's going on in my head that keeps on piling and piling? He wanted to excel.
He just wanted to be this, like, great person.
And in my eyes, he was all that.
He was rough on himself.
He really, really struggled with just disappointing, I think, my husband and me.
I don't understand why you would want someone that was so beautiful inside and out that had so much, that was such a kind person to die.
How do you describe what this young woman did? I cannot.
Only only she can.
Had to fight off a nurse for a cruller.
Worth it.
Any bright ideas in the half hour I've been gone? No.
I don't know how to get him.
I you saw, Moniz loves him.
He trusts him.
None of this was in the report.
Nothing about cutting or Or "involuntary intoxication.
" I mean, what the hell even is that? I can't prepare overnight.
Well, maybe that's it.
I mean, he didn't say any of it in the report.
Gonna have to get him to bury himself.
You said during your direct examination that the defendant had been cutting, correct? Yes.
Would you agree with me that your initial 60 or so page report didn't mention anything about that, correct? Correct.
I didn't have those texts.
Would it be fair to say that her mother never reported any concern about cutting? I didn't interview Mom in that depth.
May I approach, Your Honor? Mm-hmm.
Didn't you write here, page 60, "Michelle's mother cannot recall any bizarre behavior "on Michelle's part at any time of her life, including during the period of the alleged crime.
" Yes.
So you at least talked to her a little bit.
Yes.
And in that conversation, she did not report any concerns about her daughter at all.
No, she didn't.
The information that you had about her cutting was based on text messages with her friends? Yes.
And now, of course, when you looked at these messages where she was talking about how severely she cut herself, you would also look at other messages she sent to other people contemporaneously? Yes, she often sent different messages to different people.
And it would be significant to you if, uh, she was simultaneously texting one person that she was cut so badly, she had to go to the emergency room and then a moment later, texting a boy something completely different.
Yes, she did that a lot about a lot of different things.
Yes.
But in these texts, she is claiming that she's talking to her mother about going to the hospital, correct? Yes.
Isn't it true that at the initial outset of your involvement in this case, you did not diagnose the defendant as depressed? Well, yes, that was the knowledge I had at the time.
You were wrong? Oh, golly, yeah.
You completely misdiagnosed the defendant? - No.
- Well I'm sorry, uh, you said she wasn't depressed, and now you're saying she is? I literally did not have enough information.
And I didn't know that I didn't have very much information.
Oh, but when you talked to the defendant I never talked to the defendant.
How many times have you formed the opinion that a patient or someone you've been asked to examine, uh, is involuntarily intoxicated? Golly, maybe 40 times over the last 20 years? It's really a wild guess.
A wild guess.
So one of the things you need to do in forming a baseline is determining if the behavior during the period in question is of stark contrast to his or her normal behavior, correct? Yes.
Would you agree with me that if your baseline is off, it could greatly affect your opinion? That's why I carefully rechecked my opinion and found that everything in there reconfirmed the date she had the breakdown of the intoxication.
Right, you you were saying that happened on, uh, July 2nd? Yes.
It's important that it happened on July 2nd because it shows that she had a break.
She behaved one way on July 1st and on July 2nd, she behaved entirely differently because of the intoxication, and it was completely out of her control.
Do do I have that right? Yes.
Uh, "What about hanging yourself or stabbing yourself?" "What about overdosing on sleeping pills "or suffocating with a plastic bag? "Sleeping pills would work, "but if you really want to die, I don't get why you wouldn't try it.
" Yes, correct, exactly.
But you said that her behavior changed on July 2nd? Yes.
Well, these text messages from Michelle Carter to Conrad Roy were sent on June 29th, 2014.
You're taking my words out of context.
Okay.
May I approach? Can you please tell the court what this book is? Yes, it's the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM-5.
An encyclopedia of every diagnosed mental disorder.
Yes.
Could you grab the section that covers involuntary intoxication for me, please? Well, there is no section on involuntary intoxication.
It's a legal term.
Well, then, what are you diagnosing her with? Oh, she has drug intoxication.
It's in the general group Of substance-induced mood disorders.
- So it's not in there.
- Well, it's Sir, I'm asking whether or not the DSM-5 has a specific criteria for the diagnosis of involuntary intoxication, the diagnosis that you are providing for the defendant.
Is it in there? Well, no.
- It's a legal - Legal term.
I tender the witness, Your Honor.
Sorry, I took some sleeping pills and I fell asleep.
You said you wanted this bad.
I knew you wouldn't try hard.
I feel like such an idiot.
Why? Because you didn't even do anything.
You lied about this whole thing.
I'm just I'm just so confused because I thought you really wanted to die.
But apparently you don't.
I just feel played and just stupid.
Don't.
I found out a new plan, and I'm gonna do it.
I don't believe you.
You're gonna have to prove me wrong because I don't think you really want this.
You just keep pushing it to another night.
And you never do it.
Okay.
- Okay what? - Okay.
I'll prove you wrong.
If I were that judge, you know what I'd say? "Your parents aren't going to miss you if you're locked up for the next 30 years.
" - This is evil.
- Turn it off.
Where does evil come from? - It's the news.
- Your sister does not need to hear this right now.
Turn it off, Hayden.
He was an easy target.
It's all about attention, people noticing her.
We're just supposed to ignore it? I'm not doing this with you right now, sorry.
No, you know what everyone thinks of me in school, in this town? Hayden, I am sorry, but this is not helping.
We can't be watching this garbage right now.
- You should go get ready.
- No, you always yell at me and I don't understand.
It's always about her.
- Don't be dramatic.
- I'm serious.
All you do is focus on her, talk about her.
Your closing argument, Mr.
Cataldo.
The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
Now, there's no statute in the state of Massachusetts outlawing suicide, there's no statute in the state of Massachusetts that says it's against the law to help or assist in a suicide.
The evidence shows that Conrad Roy was suicidal for a very, very lengthy period of time.
That comes out in the text messages very clearly, and Miss Carter was under no legal duty to call for assistance.
The evidence also shows in the text messages that Conrad Roy specifically sought out her encouragement.
Your Honor, I believe that the Commonwealth has failed to provide any evidence that Miss Carter caused him to die.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr.
Cataldo.
Who's arguing for the Commonwealth? Okay.
Okay.
I'm not just gonna stand here and say, "Look at Commonwealth v.
Carter" and sit down, Your Honor.
With regards to the offense of manslaughter, I would, uh, suggest that the Commonwealth needed to prove that the conduct was intentional, not that the outcome was intentional, but that the conduct was.
I believe we have done that.
Your Honor, I ask that you consider not just what you know about Conrad, but what you have learned about the defendant through the course of all this.
The defendant clearly had many, what she believed, to be substantial relationships, mostly through texting.
And for Mr.
Cataldo to suggest that Conrad had free will is an oversimplification because she knew him.
She knew he had social anxiety.
She knew that he was depressed.
She knew his frailties.
And not only that, Your Honor, she knew what it was like to feel lonely and want someone to talk to.
And she did talk to him that night and she told him to get back in the truck.
Yes, the medical examiner has said this is a suicide, but she is not the final determiner of what the crime here is.
You are, Your Honor.
Thank you.
We should go home.
We're here for your sister.
She doesn't want me here.
Well, your mother needed to take a night off.
Do you think the judge likes me? It doesn't have anything to do with him liking you.
Is that what the The doctor was saying, is that what happened? Did you black out? I wish you would talk to me.
I wish you knew that you could talk to me.
I I love you no matter what.
I will always be here for you, no matter what.
You should just go in without me.
I can't.
It's okay.
No, you're not allowed to be left alone.
We'll just let them get through the first few songs and then we'll go in.
I'd like to perform a song for someone very special to me that's here tonight.
My sister, Michelle.
Michelle, come up here.
- Come on.
- Go on.
Sit.
Her name is Noelle ♪ I have a dream about her ♪ She rings my bell ♪ Got gym class in half an hour ♪ Oh, how she rocks ♪ In Keds and tube socks ♪ But she doesn't know who I am ♪ 'Cause I'm just ♪ A teenage dirtbag, baby ♪ Yeah, I'm just ♪ A teenage dirtbag, baby ♪ Listen to Iron Maiden, baby ♪ With me ♪ Ooh ♪ Her boyfriend's a dick ♪ He brings a gun to school, ♪ And he'd simply kick ♪ My ass if he knew the truth ♪ He lives on my block ♪ He drives an IROC ♪ But he doesn't know who I am ♪ And he doesn't give a damn about me ♪ 'Cause I'm just ♪ A teenage dirtbag, baby ♪ Yeah, I'm just ♪ A teenage dirtbag, baby ♪ Listen to Iron Maiden, baby ♪ With me ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ Dirtbag ♪ She doesn't know what she's missing ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ Dirtbag ♪ No, she doesn't know ♪ What she's missing ♪ Stop! You okay? Can anybody find me ♪ Somebody to ♪ Love ♪