The Megan Meier Myspace suicide case *Update: Conviction overturned* see page 23

[I'll take 2]

It's just so sad. This thread covers it more in depth than the news. They give it 30 seconds, when they do talk about it. Thanks to everyone posting and updating

[Veelyn]

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/200...w-prosecutors/

In anticipation of Lori Drew’s sentencing hearing Thursday, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-California) issued a statement late Wednesday praising prosecutors for their work on the controversial case.

“What Lori Drew did was egregious, and it is time that she be brought to justice,” Sanchez said in a statement designed to draw attention to recent legislation she introduced.

“I applaud the work of the U.S. attorneys who have worked hard to bring Ms. Drew to justice, despite the absence of a federal anti-cyberbullying statute,” she continued. “This case sheds light on how our laws need to catch up with new crimes like cyberbullying, so that people like Ms. Drew will think twice before using the internet to bully and harass innocent victims like Megan Meier.”

In April, Sanchez introduced the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act the nation’s first federal cyberbullying bill. If passed, the law would set a prison sentence of up to two years for anyone convicted of engaging in electronic speech that was intended to “coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person.”

In her statement this week, Sanchez said that “cyberbullying should be treated as a serious crime and prosecutors should be better equipped deal with its serious consequences.”

Drew, 50, was accused of participating in a cyberbullying scheme against a 13-year-old girl who later committed suicide. But she was charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act — an anti-hacking law — after prosecutors could find no federal law prohibiting cyberbullying. In a novel interpretation of the law, prosecutors claimed she obtained unauthorized computer access to MySpace’s servers by violating its terms of service agreement.

In September 2006, prosecutors said, Drew conspired to create a fake MySpace account for “Josh Evans” with her then 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, and a then-18-year-old employee and family friend named Ashley Grills, for the purpose of inflicting psychological harm on a 13-year-old neighbor named Megan Meier.

Prosecutors alleged that Drew and the two others used the profile to lure Megan into an online relationship with “Josh” to find out what Megan was saying about Drew’s daughter online. But in October, one of the group, writing as “Josh”, turned against Megan, and told her that the world would be a better place without her. Shortly afterward, Megan hanged herself in her bedroom.

Drew was charged with one felony count of conspiracy and three felony counts of unauthorized computer access. She was acquitted of three of the felony charges and convicted instead of three misdemeanor charges for unauthorized computer access. Jurors deadlocked on the conspiracy charge.

Drew is facing up to three years in prison and a $300,000 fine. Prosecutors have argued for the maximum sentence, though it’s more likely she’ll receive probation, which is what probation officers recommended in their pre-sentencing report to the court.

However, U.S. District Judge George Wu still has to rule on a motion for a direct acquittal. Drew’s defense attorney filed that motion after the prosecution rested its case last year on grounds that the prosecution failed to prove that Drew knew about the MySpace terms of service or that she intentionally violated it. Wu has delayed ruling on the motion for nearly eight months. He was scheduled to sentence Drew on May 18 but delayed this after saying he needed more time to review testimony from the trial.

If Wu grants the defense motion, it would overturn the misdemeanors for lack of evidence, and result in a judgment of acquittal. Drew’s defense attorney has vowed to appeal the case if Wu lets the verdict stand.

Drew is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.

[Veelyn]

Lori Drew was supposed to be sentenced today... lets see if it happened and what I can find on it.

[Veelyn]

Well, nothing as of yet.

[cjy]

No link but I just saw she is going free and the verdict was overturned. Un real

[Roo]

OMG

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/07/drew_court/

Judge Acquits Lori Drew in Cyberbullying Case, Overrules Jury

* By Kim Zetter Email Author
* July 2, 2009 |
* 3:04 pm |
* Categories: The Courts, cyberbullying



LOS ANGELES — A federal judge on Thursday overturned guilty verdicts against Lori Drew, and issued a directed acquittal on the three misdemeanor charges.

U.S. District Judge George Wu granted a defense motion to overturn the jury verdict in the case after reviewing transcripts from last year’s trial, in which 50-year-old Drew was convicted of three misdemeanor charges of unauthorized computer access.

Drew had faced a maximum sentence of three years and a $300,000 fine. Although prosecutors sought the maximum, probation authorities, in a pre-sentencing report sent to the court, had recommended probation and a $5,000 fine.

Drew was accused of participating in a cyberbullying scheme against a 13-year-old girl who later committed suicide. The case against Drew hinged on the government’s novel argument that violating MySpace’s terms of service for the purpose of harming another was the legal equivalent of computer hacking.

In September 2006, prosecutors said, Drew conspired to create a fake MySpace account for “Josh Evans” with her then 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, and a then-18-year-old employee and family friend named Ashley Grills.

Prosecutors alleged that Drew and the two others used the profile to lure Megan Meier, a 13-year-old neighbor, into an online relationship with “Josh” to find out what Megan was saying about Drew’s daughter online. But in October, one of the group, writing as “Josh”, turned against Megan, and told her that the world would be a better place without her. Shortly afterward, Megan hanged herself in her bedroom.

MySpace’s user agreement requires registrants, among other things, to provide factual information about themselves and to refrain from soliciting personal information from minors or using information obtained from MySpace services to harass or harm other people. By allegedly violating that click-to-agree contract, Drew committed the same crime as any hacker, prosecutors claimed.

But testimony in the case offered by prosecution witness Ashley Grills under a grant of immunity showed that nobody involved in the hoax actually read the terms of service. Grills also said that the hoax was her idea, not Drew’s, and that it was Grills who created the Josh Evans profile, and later sent the cruel message that tipped the emotionally vulnerable 13-year-old girl into her final, tragic act.

Drew was cleared of the felony computer-hacking charges by a jury, but convicted of three misdemeanors for unauthorized computer access. The jury deadlocked on the felony charge of conspiracy.

More details to come.

Photo: AP

[ilovepinkhearts]

What what what?!?!?

[Skinny]

you have got to be FLIPPING kidding me.............!!!

[canada's]

this is an outrage!

WTH is wrong with that judge?!

[Veelyn]

I am so outraged by this decision. Not right at all. Her time will come, karma will get her.

She will probably move, I can't think that people here would be too happy with her right now.

What a shame.

[scarlett_2005]

Wtf? Can the prosecution appeal this decision?

[nathansgirl1908]

Legally this is the right move. As one article said, the US DA was trying to make a name for himself. In essence while the charges were for the computer issues, they really were trying to punish her for the child's death, and that is not good. I think people are just too caught up in the emotional aspect to really look at this objectively. That woman was wrong for what she did, but she did NOT make that child kill herself. And as was stated in an article about it, upholding this type of conviction would be setting a very dangerous precedent. People violate TOS all the time. Upholding this conviction would subject hundreds of thousands of people to the same fate. Would that really be fair?

[Panda1]

This is a disgrace. Lori Drew may not have killed Megan herself but she KNEW Megan had mental problems. Ms. Drew facilitated the torment of a mentally ill girl until she killed herself. What is legally right is not necessarily morally right. Also Ms. Drew was not merely "wrong" in her actions, it is a lot more evil than that. This is actually bad for the Drews, think how society will treat them now that the justice system let them get away with it.

[canada's]

^^^
agreed.

the woman knew what she was doing. she knew the girl's mental issues and used them to her advantage to toy with a troubled teen. let's take myspace out of the equation and say this woman constantly harassed this little girl to the point where the girl commits suicide. is it still not her fault the girl did this merely because she wasn't the one tying the rope around her neck?

what's sad is you know this isn't the last of this type of case we'll see. the spread of social networking is only adding more fuel to fire and eventually people will have to be prosecuted for such things. just because you're in your home, behind a screen, doesn't mean you aren't responsible.

[creighbaby]

Horrid. There needs to be some kind of accountability for what happened to that poor girl.