Michelle Carter's future will be decided Thursday when a judge will sentence the 20-year-old in the 2014 death of her boyfriend Conrad Roy III. However, hours before the sentencing, Joey Jackson, a criminal defense attorney and CNN legal analyst, said Carter "will be given little, if any, jail time, in my view."

Carter was convicted of involuntary manslaughter by Judge Lawrence Moniz in June, after prosecutors released shocking text messages from Carter to Roy, encouraging her boyfriend to take his own life. Roy died by suicide in the summer of 2014 after inhaling carbon monoxide from a truck’s exhaust system to poison himself. While the sentencing for involuntary manslaughter is up to 20 years in prison, Jackson claimed such a lengthy sentence is unlikely.

Read: Michelle Carter Set To Be Sentenced For Encouraging Conrad Roy’s Suicide

"The crime was horrific, but based upon her youth, I believe the judge's sentence will focus more on rehabilitation than on punishment. Though some punishment would be appropriate -- and I think the judge also needs to deter copy cats," he said.

Jackson also pointed out that it is likely Carter won't be getting a harsh punishment for her actions, as she was tried as a juvenile, and was allowed to remain free on bail following her conviction.

"That's a big deal, and a sign of his thinking," Jackson said. "If he (the judge) was going to slam her, he would have put her in upon conviction."

Twitter reacted as Carter awaited her sentencing.

On Wednesday, Roy’s aunt Kim Bozzi said Carter should be given 20 years of imprisonment in order to keep her away from society.

“Take away the spotlight that she so desperately craves,” Bozzi said in a statement, according to the Boston Herald. “Twenty years may seem extreme, but it is still twenty more than Conrad will ever have.”

“I’m unsure when she decided to set her sick plan into motion or why,” Bozzi added. “But when she did she did it relentlessly. It was calculated and it was planned down to a T. She preyed on his vulnerabilities. He trusted her, which in turn, cost him his life.”

Carter’s father, however, wished his daughter gets a far more lenient sentence in the case.

Read: Conrad Roy III's Girlfriend Spotted First Time In Public After Guilty Verdict

“She will forever live with what she has done and I know will be a better person because of it,” David Carter wrote in a July letter to the judge. “I ask of you to invoke leniency in your decision-making process for my loving child Michelle.”

After the conviction, Roy's mother said in a statement to Daily Mail: "I would give up everything - I would be homeless, sleep in my car for the rest of my life, if I could just get him back. I want a law in place that prevents this happening to any other mother and child. The ultimate goal is to have a law passed. It's not going to bring my son back but I would be honored if it would help other children."

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