TAUNTON — Michelle Carter, sentenced Thursday in Juvenile Court to 15 months in the county jail for encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide in 2014, immediately had her sentence stayed while an appeal is pending in the state courts.

Defense attorney Joseph P. Cataldo requested the stay, saying the case is ripe for appeal because of its complex First Amendment issues. "This case is very unique and has a novel issue involving speech without presence," he said.

This is a case where there is "speech with no true threat," he said. "It needs to be litigated."

The defense attorney said Carter will have finished her jail sentence before the appeal is heard unless the stay is granted. "Incarceration can never be taken back unless the stay is granted," Cataldo said.

Judge Lawrence Moniz inquired about a possible appeal to the federal system, if the state appeal is denied, and then made it clear he will not extend the appeal beyond the state level.

Cataldo agreed there was the likelihood of an appeal to federal courts, if the state appeal is denied.

Prosecutor Maryclare Flynn opposed the defense's request.

The judge gave Carter, a 20-year-old Plainville woman, a sentence of 2.5 years with 15 months to serve in the Bristol County House of Corrections and the rest (15 months) suspended for five years of probation for encouraging her boyfriend, 18-year-old Conrad Roy III of Mattapoisett, to commit suicide on July 13, 2014.

In June, Moniz found Carter guilty of involuntary manslaughter after a jury-waived trial. The judge said the pivotal moment in the case was when Carter told Roy, after he had exited his truck, "to get back in the truck," which was filling with carbon monoxide. The maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter is 20 years in state prison.

The judge issued the following conditions with his sentence and said they would apply while the sentence is stayed: no contact with any member of the Roy family or witnesses who testified at the trial, which includes many of her classmates at King Philip Regional High School; do not obtain a passport; and no leaving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The decision to stay the sentence left a bitter pill for the Roy family, who quickly left the Taunton courthouse. "To me this just says, 'Go ahead, bully anyone. As long as you're under 18, you know, we'll buy you a ticket to the freakin' roller coaster,'" said Jimmy Brodeur, fiancé of Conrad Roy III's aunt Kim.

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Prosecutors said they were "disappointed" with the judge's decision, but said they are "steadfast" in their belief that Carter committed involuntary manslaughter and needs to be held accountable. She said they hope the trial, "in the very least," brought awareness to the complex issues of technology in society and the way words can affect others.

Cataldo, in a news conference outside the courthouse, said the defense is "disappointed" with the judge's decision to convict Carter, but pleased with Moniz's decision to stay the sentence during the state appeal process. He said an appeal should be filed within about 30 days.

Prosecutor Flynn recommended a sentence of 7 to 12 years in state prison, saying Carter's actions are "egregious" and she engaged in "a deliberate, well-thought out campaign" to get Roy to take his own life. She said that Carter has not accepted responsibility for her actions, nor has she expressed remorse.

Carter "deceived" the Roy family into believing she had helped their son and "duped" the town of Wrentham into thinking she was trying to raise awareness about suicide prevention when she organized a softball tournament in Roy's memory. "She is not someone who can stay in home confinement and get better," she said, adding that her parents "don't get" the severity of what their daughter did.

Cataldo requested that Carter be placed on probation for five years and receive mental health treatment and counseling, but no jail time in either a county facility or state prison. "She will have to live with the consequences for the rest of her life with the publicity of this case," he said.

At the time of Roy's suicide, Carter was going through "some significant psychological issues of her own," he said. "She should be given a chance to make it. This was a terrible, terrible tragedy," he said.

The judge said he did not believe mental illness was a factor in the case, but said her young age presents "a great promise of rehabilitation."

Follow Curt Brown on Twitter @CurtBrown_SCT.