Judge Throws Out Conviction in Deadly MySpace Hoax?

J

Jessica

New member
In a stunning move, a federal judge has tentatively decided to reverse a jury's verdicts and acquit a Missouri woman who had been convicted of computer fraud charges stemming from an Internet hoax that prompted a teenage girl to commit suicide.

Lori Drew was convicted in November of three misdemeanor counts of illegally accessing a protected computer.

She was expected to be sentenced today in a widely publicized "cyber bullying" case that resulted in the suicide of a 13-year-old girl.

The charges stemmed from the death of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who committed suicide after being "dumped" on MySpace by a fictitious boy Drew helped create.


What do you think of this?
Thanks for your thoughts & opinions.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-myspace-suicide,0,1166066.story
 
The issue here isn't if Drew is probably responsible or not. The prosecutors were struggling with how to try this case. As the judge stated, the actual charges didn't really fit. For him to allow the conviction would have had implications far beyond the actual case. Do I think Drew is a jerk and negligent in the case, yes. However, there are no laws that fit well to this case. Thus, there is little that can be directly done to punish her within the law.
 
I think the judge's decision has been based on whether Ms Drew had any malicious intention to psychologically disturb Megan Meier and as a consequence, cause her death. That would have to be proven beyond doubt and I can only assume that doubt there was. With the reversal of the verdict, then the matter comes down to accident or misadventure. However, even with no intent, Ms Drew will have the matter on her conscious for the rest of her life. I suspect this is one of those cases where 'erring on the side of caution' may be in the public interest, and while Ms Drew may be culpable in causing distress, she did not intend death to occur. A life for a life is not always the answer.
 
i'm really not surprised. can't remember which show i was watching, but a panel of lawyers were discussing this case and most of them seemed to think she was going to beat the system. so much for our criminal justice system.
 
Back
Top