Source: AOL News

Quote:

A federal judge on Thursday 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 stressed the ruling was tentative until he issues it in writing. He noted the case of a judge who changed his mind after ruling. Drew 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 Thursday'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's attorney Dean Steward said outside court that the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles should not 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 press conference that after prosecutors see the written ruling they will consider options, including an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "I'm proud of this case," he said. "This is a case that called out for someone to do something. It was a risk. But this office will always take risks on behalf of children." Steward said the ruling should mark the end of Drew's criminal case. "It's not the end of the road, it's the end of the chapter on the criminal side, which is pretty clearly the end," he said. 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 that justice was done because "we got the word out." Tina Meier said she is devoting her life to educating parents and teachers about potential threats to their children lurking in the Internet. 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 say 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 cases. Wu acknowledged in May he was concerned that sending Drew to prison for violating a Web site's service terms might set a dangerous precedent. Wu at the time noted that millions of people either don't read service terms, as happened in Drew's case. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Drew violated MySpace service rules by setting up the phony profile for a boy named "Josh Evans" with the help of her then-13-year-old daughter Sarah and business assistant Ashley Grills. They posted a photo of a bare-chested boy with tousled brown hair. "Josh" then told Megan she was "sexi" and assured her, "i love you so much." Prosecutors believe Drew and her daughter, who was friends with Megan, created the profile to find out if Megan was spreading rumors about Sarah. Grills testified she received a message from Megan in mid-2006, calling Drew's daughter a lesbian. Grills, who testified under a promise of immunity, allegedly sent the final, insulting message to Megan before she killed herself. Prosecutors said Megan sent a response saying, "'You are the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over.'" Jurors decided Drew was not guilty of the more serious felonies of intentionally causing emotional harm while accessing computers without authorization. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a felony conspiracy charge.

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Wow what a messed up world we live in people. Am I the only one confused in how the main focus was on violating service terms when in reality this adult woman played with the mind of a thirteen year old child who decided to kill herself as a result. What kind of warped person would even do that? Even if this girl did spread rumors or whatever that doesnt make what she did right. So in the long run what this says is that you can go on the internet, pose as other people, mess with little kids and nothing happens to you if they harm themselves. I just think it takes a certain type of sick individual to even do such a thing no matter how old you are but especially an adult. Lord knows this world is in bad times when you have to worry about kids being in danger just by getting on the computer.

Well, I'm off to Yellowstone for vacay, so I won't be on here for awhile I'll miss all you ladies while I'm gone!!

You are so lucky! That is one of the places on my to go before I die list lol. Have fun!

Aloha my lovlies

Hey Maria whats up been a long time

Hey Karen! Everything is pretty good over here. I am actually excited about shopping this weekend because I have to get a gown for the vampire ball at a convention. I am definitely like Bella when it comes to shopping but fear not I know an Alice worthy friend who is going to help me look my best lol. I hope everything is going great with you.

Very nice. I know I am super excited to meet Kellan, Ashley and Jackson. I am cool with meeting Billy and Michael but yea Kellan is the one I will melt over.

Hey Kenzie! I have actually been busy too and things are just going to get more hectic. I finally have my gown for the vampire ball! The convention is August 14 through 16 plus my birthday is August 4th. I am starting to get really excited! I hope everyone else is having a great weekend!

Definitely and my bday is Aug 4th but I dont even care about that lol I just want to meet him Aug 15 and 16. The dress is a black gown that has a black beaded area across the bodice. I am going to wear a black and red mask with it. The mask is half black and on the red side it has black lace on it as well. I am so excited to see him. I know other cast members will be there but you know I have to see my monkey man lol. I plan on going to another convention next year they are having one in Vancouver and I'll be in Seattle by the time they have it so I can drive up to Vancouver for it. Its funny how I am already planning another convention when I havent even been to one lol.

We have the con in September that im going to and another coming up in 2110 that Im hoping to get to. Ive decided im going to stalk my monkey man in September then strike when the time is right

Oh and on a more random note YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY for Jeff Hardy being champ