CHARGES REJECTED IN MYSPACE HOAX TRIAL

// November 26th, 2008 // Hott in the Headlines

an obvious felony without conviction

Jurors could not reach a verdict on a conspiracy count

By John Charles Reedburg

Very shameful.

Los Angeles, CA — A jury has convicted a Missouri mother of lesser, misdemeanor crimes in the MySpace cyber-bullying case linked to a 13-year-old girl’s suicide.

The Los Angeles federal court jury on Wednesday rejected felony charges of accessing a computer without authorization to inflict emotional distress on young MEGAN MEIER.

However, the jury found defendant LORI DREW guilty of three counts of the lesser offense of accessing a computer without authorization.

The jurors could not reach a verdict on a conspiracy count.

Prosecutors said Drew violated the MySpace terms of service by conspiring with her young daughter and a business assistant to create a fictitious profile of a teen boy on the MySpace social networking site to harass Megan.

Megan, who had been treated for depression, hanged herself in 2006 after receiving a message saying the world would be better without her.

IN A RECENT NEWS BREAK

The U.S. attorney’s office says a verdict is to be read in the MySpace cyber-bullying trial of a Missouri mother.

A statement issued by the prosecutors’ office said the verdict would be read Wednesday morning.

Defendant Lori Drew is charged with conspiracy and accessing computers without authorization in an alleged scheme to harass a 13-year-old neighbor girl by contacting her through a fictitious MySpace profile of a teenage boy.

The neighbor girl, Megan Meier, committed suicide in 2006 after receiving a message saying the world would be better off without her.