Ex-Doctor Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter for Role in N.Y. Woman’s Suicide

Mar. 15, 2025

Stephen P. Miller.Photo:Kingston Police Department

Kingston Police Department

An 85-year-old former doctor from Arizona has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for his role in a New York woman’s suicide.

Stephen P. Miller was sentenced to five years of probation — which he will serve in Tuscon, Ariz. — as part of the plea agreement entered in Ulster County Court in N.Y. on Tuesday, Sept. 3, according to theAssociated Press,The New York TimesandTimes Union.

Miller was initially indicted on charges of second-degree manslaughter and assault, according to the district attorney’s office. If convicted on all counts, he would have faced up to 25 years in prison, per theN.Y. Times. According to New York State law, manslaughter is permitted to be charged for aiding another person’s suicide, the outlet reported.

Miller’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, said Miller spoke with Brodhead for about six months before her death, with Miller telling authorities it was an “act of mercy,” the N.Y. Times reported. According to the outlet, Brodhead’s family said she had dealt with chronic back and neck pain for decades.

According to the Associated Press, Lichtman claimed Miller provided “very slight technical assistance” to a woman who couldn’t bear her pain.

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“Technically, he violated the law,” Lichtman told reporters, per the AP. “We accept that, but with the understanding that morally, Stephen Miller did nothing wrong.”

Lichtman added that his client, who belongs to Choice and Dignity, an end-of-life advocacy group in Arizona, still supports assisted suicide, but will not personally provide assistance regarding the matter in the future, the AP reports.

“That part of his life is over,” Lichtman said, according to the publication.

PerThe New York Times, Miller obtained his medical degree in 1964 and has worked as a doctor in several states, including Illinois, Massachusetts, California and Texas.

source: people.com