Ex-Minnesota Nurse Plans To Appeal Conviction In Assisted Suicide Case

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A former Minnesota nurse plans to appeal his conviction of assisting the suicide of an English man and attempting to assist in the suicide of a Canadian woman.

A Rice County judge ruled Tuesday that 52-year-old William Melchert-Dinkel of Faribault assisted in the suicide of 32-year-old Mark Drybrough of Coventry, England.

The judge found the state failed to prove Melchert-Dinkel's assistance was a direct cause of the suicide of an 18-year-old Ontario woman, but found him guilty on a lesser charge of attempting to help her take her life.

Melchert-Dinkel has admitted going online and encouraging people to kill themselves. Defense attorney Terry Watkins says his client has "never pretended" that his actions were right, but they still believe they weren't a crime.

But prosecutor Paul Beaumaster says the judge followed a Minnesota Supreme Court decision from last March that narrowed the state's assisted suicide law.

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