Dismissal of MySpace Case ‘Proper,’ Defendant Says
By Linda Deutsch
Associated Press
Saturday, July 4, 2009

LOS ANGELES, July 3 — A Missouri mother said she never should have been prosecuted for her role in a MySpace hoax directed at a 13-year-old girl who ended up committing suicide.

A federal judge this week acquitted Lori Drew of misdemeanor counts of accessing computers without authorization, finding that the law she allegedly violated was unconstitutionally vague. U.S. District Judge George Wu stressed that the ruling is tentative until he issues it in writing.

Friday, on NBC’s “Today” show, Drew said she never should have been prosecuted.

“In my view, it was proper that this case was dismissed, primarily because I simply did not do what the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles accused me of doing,” Drew said.

Drew was found guilty in November, but the judge said that if she were convicted of illegally accessing computers, anyone who has ever violated the social networking site’s terms of service would be guilty of that offense. “You could prosecute pretty much anyone who violated terms of service,” he said.

Prosecutors said at a news conference that they will decide to appeal after reviewing the written ruling. Drew’s attorney, H. Dean Steward, said the ruling should mark the end of her criminal case.

The parents of Megan Meier, the teenager who killed herself, were in court for the ruling. Later, her mother, Tina Meier, said that in spite of the disappointment, she thought that justice was done because “we got the word out.”

Much attention has been paid to Drew’s case, primarily because it was the nation’s first cyberbullying trial. The trial was held in Los Angeles because the servers of the social networking site are in the area.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/03/AR2009070302467.html?hpid=sec-tech

Sorry, but the twisting of laws to satisfy some sort of blood lust (or to be more specific, Greed) is as Athena states, a sad day for the legal system. It sets all sorts of terrible precedents…not in just how Lori was charged, but what a successful conviction of something like this means to everyone who clicks past a ToS. I hope everyone who called for this is happy, and I hope you don’t one day face a jury because you are not being exactly truthful on your Myspace page.

It’s still a bunch of bullshit. The girl who did most of the damage, Ashley (who admitted to hatching the plan and probably created the profile), was granted immunity in exchange to her testamony. Meanwhile, they couldn’t prove Lori even read the MySpace TOS, and, although Lori’s daughter testified that her mom never posted as the fictitious boy, Ashley says Lori posted “at least once.” Real damning evidence, right there.

This was a witchhunt and I really hope it doesn’t stand up to appeal. I doubt it will, though.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0923081drew1.html

Lori Drew… pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles federal court Monday to charges in an Internet hoax blamed for a 13-year-old girl’s suicide.

Well, there’s a heart-attack-and-die surprise. Not.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Missouri woman pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles federal court Monday to charges in an Internet hoax blamed for a 13-year-old girl’s suicide. Lori Drew, 49, stood quietly beside her attorney Monday. She pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress. She is free on $20,000 bond.

(snipped for length and copyright)

James Chadwick, a Palo Alto attorney who specializes in Internet and media law, said he has never seen the statute applied to the sending of messages.

He said it was probable that liability for the girl’s death would not be an issue in the case. “As tragic as it is,” he said, “You can’t start imposing liability on people for being cruel.”

Missouri police didn’t file any charges against Drew in part because there was no applicable state law. In response to the case, Missouri legislators gave final approval to a bill making cyber harassment illegal.

Admittedly, I’ve fallen out of touch with this case, but, last I checked, they couldn’t prove who contributed what to the fake profile.

We shouldn’t be in the habit of manufacturing trumped up charges without satisfying the burden of proof simply to make an example out of people.

Athena, I read this in a news article. I have tried to post it, but can’t. It was on the front page of msn.com. You should apologize to me. You yourself in this case are guilty of “manufacturing trumped up charges without satisfying the burden of proof simply to make an example out of people.”

Admittedly, I’ve fallen out of touch with this case, but, last I checked, they couldn’t prove who contributed what to the fake profile.

Yeah, you are behind on this story.

We shouldn’t be in the habit of manufacturing trumped up charges without satisfying the burden of proof simply to make an example out of people.

But it’s okay for you to do it to me?

I read the information in the article cited. The young woman admitted writing the post and explained why she did it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24652422&GT1=43001

All this will do, likely, is cost the taxpayers a shitload of money.

Exactly.

I refuse to re-hash my sentiments in this case, as I was pretty clear in the article comments. But let me state again, that these charges are asinine and sets a very dangerous precedent.

We shouldn’t be in the habit of manufacturing trumped up charges without satisfying the burden of proof simply to make an example out of people.

All this will do, likely, is cost the taxpayers a shitload of money.