Nature of the Case
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Facts
D was familiar with the untreated ravages of AIDs. D and a friend, Eaton, hooked up and twice engaged in sex over a period of hours. After they had sex, Eaton told D that he had AIDS. Eaton asked D to help in his suicide. Easton offered various items of his personal property to D which Eaton placed in the living room. Eaton wanted to die by strangulation. d agreed to help him 'do it.' Eaton tied a sash around his neck, lay down on the bed, and asked D to tie his hands with the sash from his neck and to his feet. D assisted in such a manner that if Eaton straightened his knees, Eaton would be strangled to death. D materially helped with the entire process. D put his hands on Eaton's back to steady him on the bed. Eaton did not roll over on his side and D did not try to prevent him from doing so. D exerted no pressure to hold Eaton down but to steady him as rocked up and down to prevent him from falling off the bed which Eaton feared would prevent him from completing the act of suicide. Eaton proceeded to strangle himself by 'just straightening up,' with his face staying down in the pillow. The sash slipped, and D rewrapped it at Eaton's request and retied it to his hands. D did nothing to directly strangle Eaton, and he did not hold Eaton's face in the pillow. Eaton was in sole control of how tight the sash was around his neck by straightening out his body with his feet. D told the police that after the tie around Eaton's neck broke, he had to 'extra hold him down,' and he 'laid on him.' When asked by the police if he was helping Eaton out by putting enough weight on his back to where it started to choke him, because Eaton was not doing 'it' himself, D answered, 'yes.' D held Eaton down him down without putting a lot of weight on him; just holding him to keep him from bucking; holding him while standing alongside the bed, and holding him without putting any pressure on him. D knew Eaton was going to die when he tied him up; D wanted to help him die, and D knew if he did not tie him up and hold him on the bed he was not going to die. After Eaton’s death, D fixed himself a drink, put on a pair of pants and shoes Eaton had given him, and as Eaton had requested, took the bindings off Eaton and threw them away. As per Eaton's request, D took Eaton's wallet and withdrew money from the ATM machine over the next three days. After continued interrogation, D finally admitted he tied Eaton up and held him down. Eaton tested positive for the AIDS virus, but the coroner did not find evidence of any other illnesses. The coroner acknowledged the ligature marks could be consistent with Eaton attempting to pull on his neck or strangle himself, noting it does not take much pressure to cause asphyxiation and it is possible for a person to strangle himself with a ligature tied from his neck to his wrists. But, once unconscious it was doubtful the person could maintain the pressure necessary to cause the tension to a ligature from his neck to his wrists. D was convicted of second-degree murder and appealed. The court had refused to give aiding and abetting instruction for suicide.
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