Right To Die Group Convicted of Assisted Suicide Charge

HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) — National right-to-die group Final Exit Network has been convicted of assisting in the 2007 suicide of a Minnesota woman.

Jurors also found the group guilty Thursday of a lesser charge of interfering with a death scene. Sentencing was set for August.

The group was accused in the death of Doreen Dunn, a 57-year-old Apple Valley woman who lived with chronic pain for a decade.

Prosecutors argued Final Exit Network provided Dunn with a "blueprint" to commit suicide. The defense said the group does nothing illegal and ensures its work falls within constitutionally protected speech.

To convict the group, jurors had to find that Dunn took her life with its help. In Minnesota, assistance can include speech if it's aimed at giving a specific person instructions on how to commit suicide.