Ex-physician charged with manslaughter over New York female suicide

A former Arizona doctor faces manslaughter charges in New York for his role in the suicide of a woman who died in a Hudson Valley motel room in November, his attorney and law enforcement officials said.

The former doctor, Stephen P. Miller, 85, is charged with second-degree manslaughter under a provision of New York state law that makes it a crime for one person to intentionally cause or to help with that.

Mr. Miller, of Tucson, also faces two counts of assault. He pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in Ulster County Court on Friday and was held Monday in the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail or $1 million bond.

Mr. Miller's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, said the woman who died in the motel room had contacted his client through a national organization that advocates for the legalization of medical aid in dying so that terminally ill patients have some control over how their life ends.

Ten states, including New Jersey and Washington DC, allow some form of such assistance. A bill that would legalize medical assistance in dying in New York has repeatedly failed to gain approval from lawmakers in recent years.

Law enforcement officials have released few details about the suicide Mr. Miller is accused of, making it unclear whether it would be covered by such legislation.

The death was discovered around 11:15 a.m. on November 9, when emergency responders went to a Super 8 motel in Kingston, NY and found a person who initially appeared to have died by suicide alone in the room, Kingston police said. said in a press release.

Investigators later found evidence that a second person who “contributed or assisted in the suicide” had been in the room, the release said. Police provided no information about the person who died or the cause of death, other than to say he or she was not related to Mr. Miller. They did not say how Mr. Miller became a suspect.

Mr. Lichtman, Mr. Miller's lawyer, said the deceased woman was struggling with severe, chronic pain and felt she had no options to cope. Mr Lichtman did not say whether the woman was terminally ill.

Mr. Miller provided the woman with a book and advice and traveled from Arizona to New York to witness her death, Mr. Lichtman said. Mr. Miller has provided similar services to other people on several occasions in recent years, Mr. Lichtman said.

Mr Lichtman said he was unsure of the official cause of death but believed it was asphyxiation and that the woman had inhaled some kind of gas.

“This was done carefully, with compassion and with a lot of research and reflection,” Mr Lichtman said, adding that Mr Miller now faced the “unconscionable” prospect of dying in prison.

Mr. Miller graduated from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago, Illinois, in June 1964, according to medical records in Arizona and California. He worked in pediatrics early in his career and was a family physician at the time, records show.

His license to practice in Arizona expired in 2005, Arizona Medical Board records show. The following year, he was convicted of federal tax evasion in Texas in connection with a scheme that used limited liability companies and sham trusts to hide and move income abroad, according to a Justice Department news release. He was sentenced to just under four years in prison. His license to practice in California was revoked in 2009, records show.

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reporting contributed.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. To go here for sources outside the United States.