Jury Gets MySpace Hoax Suicide Case
A federal jury was given the case Monday of a Missouri mother accused of conspiring with her daughter and an assistant to harass a 13-year-old girl on the Internet, allegedly precipitating the teen's suicide.
"Lori Drew decided to humiliate a child," U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien said. "The only way she could harm this pretty little girl was with a computer. She chose to use a computer to hurt a little girl, and for four weeks she enjoyed it."
Drew, 49, listened to the argument impassively. Her lawyer, Dean Steward, said jurors must remember she is not charged with homicide in the death of Megan Meier, who hanged herself after receiving a message that the world would be better off without her.
"If you hadn't heard the indictment read to you, you'd think this was a homicide case," he said. "And it's not a homicide case. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a computer case, and that's what you need to decide."
The defense attorney insisted the only question is whether Drew violated the terms-of-service agreement of the MySpace social networking site. He said that Drew, her young daughter Sarah and assistant Ashley Grills never read the seven-page agreement.
"Nobody reads these things, nobody," he said. "... How can you violate something when you haven't even read it? End of case. The case is over."
Drew has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and accessing computers without authorization. She could be sentenced to as many as 20 years in prison if convicted of all counts. The jury was scheduled to begin deliberations Tuesday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Krause, in closing arguments, said Drew was responsible for devising the plan to invent an imaginary boy called Josh Evans who would communicate online with Megan, the daughter of a neighbor and once Sarah's best friend. Prosecutors say Drew wanted to find out whether Megan was spreading rumors about Sarah.
The prosecution showed the jury the photo that was used on the fake MySpace profile - a bare-chested boy with tousled brown hair.
Krause said Drew told her daughter and the then-18-year-old Grills what to write, to make the messages "flirty."
In so doing, he said, she violated the MySpace rules.
"The rules are fairly simple," he said. "You don't lie. You don't pretend to be someone else. You don't use the site to harass others. They harassed Megan Meier."
Krause also said Drew was warned by others that what she was doing was wrong, and Grills herself told Drew it might be illegal.
"She knew she was violating the rules and yet she told these two kids to keep doing it," he said.
Both prosecutors made references to testimony that Megan had been under treatment for depression, and Sarah, in testimony before final arguments, said she was aware Megan had been taking medication and seeing a psychiatrist.
"The defendant knew that she was dealing with a troubled little girl who was extremely fragile, and yet she did it anyway," Krause said.
"It went beyond a simple prank," said Krause, "to get her so hooked on this young man that she would be crushed when she found out he didn't exist."
Steward, in his response, said Drew had little to do with the content of the messages and was actually out of her home on the day of the final message, which was sent just before the suicide. He also said the message, which was quoted through out the trial, has never been found but was actually sent via AOL, not the MySpace site.
"My client, Lori Drew, was not home when all the electronic nastiness was going on," he said.
Steward also attacked Grills, the prosecution's star witness, as untrustworthy because she testified under a grant of immunity.
"Grills, bless her heart, is pathetic," he said. "Grills is a sad character who carries a lot of guilt."
He also blamed Megan's mother, Tina Meier, for allowing her daughter to continue the MySpace conversation with the invented Josh Evans after she learned it was going on. He faulted her for allowing Megan to register on MySpace and for not watching closely enough.
O'Brien reminded jurors how the tragedy began. He said Grills received a message from Megan suggesting Drew's daughter was ugly and a lesbian, leading Drew to concoct the plan.
"She could have walked four doors down and told Megan's mother to knock it off," he said.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "Lori Drew decided to humiliate a child," U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien said. "The only way she could harm this pretty little girl was with a computer. She chose to use a computer to hurt a little girl, and for four weeks she enjoyed it."
Drew, 49, listened to the argument impassively. Her lawyer, Dean Steward, said jurors must remember she is not charged with homicide in the death of Megan Meier, who hanged herself after receiving a message that the world would be better off without her.
"If you hadn't heard the indictment read to you, you'd think this was a homicide case," he said. "And it's not a homicide case. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a computer case, and that's what you need to decide."
The defense attorney insisted the only question is whether Drew violated the terms-of-service agreement of the MySpace social networking site. He said that Drew, her young daughter Sarah and assistant Ashley Grills never read the seven-page agreement.
"Nobody reads these things, nobody," he said. "... How can you violate something when you haven't even read it? End of case. The case is over."
Drew has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and accessing computers without authorization. She could be sentenced to as many as 20 years in prison if convicted of all counts. The jury was scheduled to begin deliberations Tuesday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Krause, in closing arguments, said Drew was responsible for devising the plan to invent an imaginary boy called Josh Evans who would communicate online with Megan, the daughter of a neighbor and once Sarah's best friend. Prosecutors say Drew wanted to find out whether Megan was spreading rumors about Sarah.
The prosecution showed the jury the photo that was used on the fake MySpace profile - a bare-chested boy with tousled brown hair.
Krause said Drew told her daughter and the then-18-year-old Grills what to write, to make the messages "flirty."
In so doing, he said, she violated the MySpace rules.
"The rules are fairly simple," he said. "You don't lie. You don't pretend to be someone else. You don't use the site to harass others. They harassed Megan Meier."
Krause also said Drew was warned by others that what she was doing was wrong, and Grills herself told Drew it might be illegal.
"She knew she was violating the rules and yet she told these two kids to keep doing it," he said.
Both prosecutors made references to testimony that Megan had been under treatment for depression, and Sarah, in testimony before final arguments, said she was aware Megan had been taking medication and seeing a psychiatrist.
"The defendant knew that she was dealing with a troubled little girl who was extremely fragile, and yet she did it anyway," Krause said.
"It went beyond a simple prank," said Krause, "to get her so hooked on this young man that she would be crushed when she found out he didn't exist."
Steward, in his response, said Drew had little to do with the content of the messages and was actually out of her home on the day of the final message, which was sent just before the suicide. He also said the message, which was quoted through out the trial, has never been found but was actually sent via AOL, not the MySpace site.
"My client, Lori Drew, was not home when all the electronic nastiness was going on," he said.
Steward also attacked Grills, the prosecution's star witness, as untrustworthy because she testified under a grant of immunity.
"Grills, bless her heart, is pathetic," he said. "Grills is a sad character who carries a lot of guilt."
He also blamed Megan's mother, Tina Meier, for allowing her daughter to continue the MySpace conversation with the invented Josh Evans after she learned it was going on. He faulted her for allowing Megan to register on MySpace and for not watching closely enough.
O'Brien reminded jurors how the tragedy began. He said Grills received a message from Megan suggesting Drew's daughter was ugly and a lesbian, leading Drew to concoct the plan.
"She could have walked four doors down and told Megan's mother to knock it off," he said.
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Posted by ThinTheHerd2 at 11:35 AM : Nov 25, 2008
By your same argument, if anything should happen or anyone attack this family - you''d be prosecuted for inciting this BS. Get It ???
*****
What we have is a very unfortunate turn of events and a very irresponsible and hateful adult. But irresponsibility and hatefulness are not crimes. As much as many want this woman to go to jail--she probably will not. If the jury finds for the state, it will most likely be overturned on appeal--NOT by an impressionable jury--but by failing the cold, hard, reality of the law.
Posted by harbinger09 at 12:05 PM : Nov 25, 2008
Well laid out - and i totally AGREE. Cheers!
Posted by tipsyinct
Heck, if I were a women I''d be a lesbian!
Regardless what the lynch mob wants.
Posted by tuckerndfw at 12:29 PM : Nov 25, 2008
Post 9/11, America is driven and moved by collective vigilantism which often has no grounding in law or order. That is how we got into a war based on lies, shy many excused or condoned torture and wy after invading a country that did nothing to us--many Americans think we are heroes and we need to "win" that war.
The sad truth is, that emotionalism has replaced reason and if the mob wants a feel good moment, the courts and government would rather deliver on that in the hopes the herd won''t notice how close we all are to going over the cliff.
The ultimate distractions--give us heinous or salacious crimes, Paris Hilton and reality tv--and don''t notice that the government is robbing us blind and selling us out.
Nuff said.
The problem is that this is being tried as a criminal case (and a federal one at that) instead of a civil case which has other parameters.
I believe that there can be no case without clear and definable laws having been broken and laws can not be refinessed or redesigned or tailored just because the public wants to "get someone".The fact is, the case is sad enough that most decent people want Lori Drew convicted--but legally, there is no ground and in the end, unless we jettison all parity, all legality and the Constitution--this woman cannot go to jail for this. Should the laws be changed? Definitely. Would it affect Drew and her case? No.
Presently, what Drew did was reprehensible but not illegal. Even providing a false persona in a chat room is not illegal--unethical--maybe--but not illegal. Chat rooms, blogs, boards are all voluntary exercises--participation is not forced and disengagment is the way to control interaction. It''s just like tv, only the most vulnerable do not know how to walk away--but how much responsibility must other users bear for the failure of any person to disengage?
Your reasoning would also apply to telephone crimes. Your worst case scenario didn''''t play out with telephone crimes, and I doubt that it will with internet crimes. There will undoubtedly be a distinction drawn between public comment sites like this one and personal sites like MyPage. Some level of regulation is appropriate to protect against this type of abuse. Once the line is drawn, people will adapt.
Posted by flreason at 12:00 PM : Nov 25, 2008
Just how will it apply? Engagement on any site is voluntary so harassment does not apply. Though sites can monitor and kick people off for cursing or making ugly remarks-they are not illegal. Though a threat is illegal, saying someone is better off dead is not illegal--so how will they apply it? Even more interesting is the loophole you think you will find for boards like this as opposed to personal sites--though no one forces either person on either site and any site can (and have) become personal should people choose to use it that way.
Posted by flreason at 11:26 AM : Nov 25, 2008
The problem with your post is the legal meaning of the word harass. If Drew relentlessly sought out that girl and ignored pleas to desist--maybe spamming her email address with threats, slurs, etc there would be grounds for harassment--but since the child had to seek out her tormentor and willingly engaged for "more of the same" harassment does not apply.
The sad truth is, that the girl could have walked away, or gone to a different chat room or changed her email address and got a different persona. By deliberately seeking out the person who was mean to her--she negated the idea of harassment and by continually engaging in banter or diatribes with the other poster, she also negates the idea of torment.
What we have is a very unfortunate turn of events and a very irresponsible and hateful adult. But irresponsibility and hatefulness are not crimes. As much as many want this woman to go to jail--she probably will not. If the jury finds for the state, it will most likely be overturned on appeal--NOT by an impressionable jury--but by failing the cold, hard, reality of the law.
Your reasoning would also apply to telephone crimes. Your worst case scenario didn''t play out with telephone crimes, and I doubt that it will with internet crimes. There will undoubtedly be a distinction drawn between public comment sites like this one and personal sites like MyPage. Some level of regulation is appropriate to protect against this type of abuse. Once the line is drawn, people will adapt.
Hmmmmm. We have a name for an act that unintentionally results in the death of another: involuntary manslaughter. The fact is, intentional or not--you open that can, you do not get to choose which worms count.