Judge tosses out mom's convictions in MySpace hoax

Photo: Megan Meir, who committed suicide after being cyber-
bullied



Judge tosses out mom's convictions in MySpace hoax
Girl killed herself; ruling tentative
By Linda Deutsch
ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 3, 2009

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge yesterday tentatively threw out the convictions of a Missouri mother for her role in a MySpace hoax directed at a 13-year-old neighbor girl who ended up committing suicide.

U.S. District Judge George Wu said he was acquitting Lori Drew of misdemeanor counts of accessing computers without authorization, but he emphasized that the ruling was tentative until he issues it in writing. He noted the case of a judge who changed his mind after ruling.

Drew showed no reaction to the decision.

She was convicted in November, but the judge said that if she is to be found guilty of illegally accessing computers, anyone who has ever violated the social networking site's terms of service would be guilty of a misdemeanor. That would be unconstitutional, he said.

“You could prosecute pretty much anyone who violated terms of service,” he said.

Prosecutors had sought the maximum three-year prison sentence and a $300,000 fine, but it had been uncertain going into yesterday's hearing whether Drew would be sentenced.

Wu had given a lengthy review to a defense request for dismissal, delaying sentencing from May to go over testimony from two prosecution witnesses.

Wu said he allowed the case to proceed to trial when Drew was charged with a felony, but she was convicted only of the misdemeanor, and that presented constitutional problems.

Drew, whose bond was released by the judge, didn't appear with her attorney when he later spoke to reporters.

Defense attorney Dean Steward said outside court that the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles shouldn't have brought the charges in a case that originated in Missouri and was rejected by prosecutors there.

“Shame on the U.S. attorney for bringing this case. The St. Louis prosecutors had it right,” Steward said. “The cynic in me says that (U.S. Attorney) Tom O'Brien wanted to make a name for himself or to keep his job.”

O'Brien told a news conference that after prosecutors see the written ruling, they will consider options, including an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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 felt 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.

Prosecutors said Drew sought to humiliate Megan by helping create a fictitious teen boy on the social networking site and sending flirtatious messages to the girl in his name. The fake boy then dumped Megan in a message saying the world would be better without her.

She hanged herself a short time later in October 2006 in the St. Louis suburb of Dardenne Prairie, Mo.

Drew was not directly charged with causing Megan's death. Instead, prosecutors indicted her under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which in the past has been used in hacking and trademark-theft case.