HASTINGS, Minnesota FEN Press Release, March 23, 2013
A judge dismissed all charges against former Final Exit Network president Ted Goodwin, who was charged last year with āadvising, encouraging or assistingā in the āsuicideā of a member. Doreen Dunn, 57, exited in 2007. Goodwin was not involved in Dunnās self-deliverance. He was charged with a felony and a misdemeanour solely because he was president of Final Exit Network at the time. Judge Karen Asphaug ruled the Minnesota statute against āadvising,encouraging or assistingā in a suicide violated Goodwinās First Amendment rights because Goodwin only exercised his right to free speech in his actions as the founding president of Final Exit Network.
In May 2012, the non-profit corporation Final Exit Network, Inc., Goodwin and three other volunteers were charged in a 17-count indictment in rural Dakota County, just south of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Judge Asphaug dismissed the only two counts against Goodwin. She also dismissed two out of three charges against a Final Exit Network case coordinator, Roberta Massey, of Bear, Delaware. Thus, five of the 17 charges were dismissed in her orders, entered on March 22.
The judge denied motions to dismiss the charges against the organization and another former president of the organization, Jerry Dincin, of Chicago, and its former medical director, Lawrence Egbert, of Baltimore. The defendants had all argued that the Minnesota statute on āadvising, encouraging or assisting in a suicideā was unconstitutional. The judge found the statute unconstitutional only āas appliedā to Goodwin, but not āas applied to the others. ā In Masseyās case, the judge dismissed two counts for a ālack of probable cause,ā since Massey had never personally travelled to Minnesota to act as an Exit Guide in connection with the Dunn exit.
FEN, Dincin, Egbert, and Massey plan to seek to appeal the rulings against their motions to dismiss the indictment. Otherwise, with their motions to dismiss the indictment denied, they may have to begin preparing for a trial on the charges against them. In either event, they will raise the First Amendment issues again and again. The judgeās ruling is not final.
Goodwin, the founding president of FEN, served until 2009, when Dincin took over the post. āI am personally gratified that the bold activism of Final Exit Network continues to ensure compassionate support of the suffering,ā Goodwin said. āBut, just as importantly, we have been instrumental in the clarification of ill-conceived legislation, in multiple states, where the rights of all citizens to offer support to friends and loved ones has been held hostage at the most critical of times.ā
His lawyer, John Lundquist of the Minneapolis-based Fredrikson & Byron firm, said the judgeās ruling was āa significant step in ensuring the right of free speech for the on-going discussion about end-of life decisions in Minnesotaā