Cyber Bully Mom's Conviction thrown out
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Cyber Bully Mom's Conviction thrown out
| Thu, 07-02-2009 - 5:36pm |
A federal judge Thursday tentatively threw out computer fraud convictions against Lori Drew, the Missouri mom accused of taking part in a MySpace hoax blamed for the suicide of a 13-year-old neighbor girl.
Drew was convicted in November 2008 of three misdemeanor counts of unauthorized access to computers for violating MySpace's terms of service. U.S. District Judge George Wu said the dismissal of the convictions would be final when he issues the ruling in writing.
Drew had faced up to three years in prison and a $300,000 fine for what prosecutors described as a "scheme to humiliate" 13-year-old Megan Meier, Drew's former neighbor in a St. Louis suburb, by helping to create a MySpace profile for a fictitious teenage boy named "Josh Evans."
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=7977226&page=1

We've been following this case here on the board. It's a sad day if this is throw out because of a technicality.
Good video at link too.
>"Prosecutors had asked for the maximum three-year prison sentence, saying Megan's suicide was the "direct result" of Drew's "vindictive assault." Probation department officials recommended a sentence of a year of probation and a $5,000 fine."<
It's very sad.
"The poor girl who committed suicide, has died leaving a grieving mother and father.
She got away with it and it's sad, but she will get her's one day... what goes around comes around!
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/31722986/ns/today_people/
MySpace victim’s mom disappointed by ruling
Tina Meier says justice was served, even though judge tossed conviction
Tina Meier had hoped to see her neighbor and former friend, Lori Drew, go to prison for her role in the online hoax that caused Meier's 13-year-old daughter, Megan, to end her life. But even though a judge is throwing out Drew's conviction, Meier believes Drew didn't get away with anything.
“I wouldn’t want to be in Lori Drew’s shoes and live her life. I think she’s already basically living a life conviction right now,” Meier said Friday on TODAY, a day after U.S. District Judge George Wu indicated he was vacating a jury’s verdict and acquitting Drew of misdemeanor counts of accessing computers without authorization.
“People used to say that it was vengeance that I wanted. That’s ridiculous,” Meier told TODAY’s Natalie Morales in her first interview since Thursday’s ruling from the bench.
Meier admitted, however, that she was disappointed in the decision.
“As Megan’s mom, I wanted to see her go to jail, because I think it needed to set a precedent,” Meier said. “I think it needed to let people know: You get on the computer, you use it as a weapon to hurt, to harm, to harass people, this is not something that people can just walk away from. This is many times the teen’s lifeline.”
Still, Meier said, her daughter’s death focused attention on cyber bullying and led to several state laws and a proposed federal law to address the growing problem. In that sense, she said, there is some justice for her tragedy.
(cont.)
I hope she's suffering.
As I recall*, Drew thought that Megan was spreading rumors about Drew's daughter. Her response was to create an online entity and use it to probe at Megan though one wonders how Drew thought she'd get truthful responses. Apparently, Drew got enough to be convinced that Megan WAS somehow a threat. Can't imagine any other justification for her over-the-top responses, which BTW, also involved Drew's young employee Ashley Grills.
In any event, Drew got plenty of harassment of her own.
<<"The voice and text messages were very similar to what Aubry was showing on the news. Examples: a) Go kill yourself b) Murderer c) I can only hope your family name is abused and embarrassed publicly as you deserve. d) God is watching ur every move. Ur a sinner and u will go to hell 2/2 because that's exactly wat u deserve.">>
http://tinyurl.com/mwpjfd
IMHO, the judge who threw out Drew's case did so because of the poorly-defined precedent it would set, rather than because he believed that Drew was innocent of culpability in Megan's death.
Drew is a dead woman walking since society has already judged her and found her guilty. Would NOT want to be in her shoes to live with the burden of what she did and what the future is likely to hold.
*At the time of the episode, I was living less than fifteen miles away from Dardenne Prarie--lots of local media coverage.
Jabberwocka
The immaturity level of this grown woman (and mother) says volumes for the kind of person she is (or was) at the time she wanted to torture this little girl online. I can't imagine any adult with even an ounce of common sense (and something productive to do in life) feeling the need to become so maliciously involved in child squabbles.
This should also be a wake-up call to parents who think their children are being bullied on-line. Take away the computer. I've never quite understood the thinking of parents who complain about their child and internet issues. If the computer is a problem of any size or shape, simply remove it. Unfair to the child being bullied? Maybe, but better
While I understand what you’re saying, I don’t think ‘the computer’ is to blame for what Lori Drew did.
I feel sorry for the mother of the Megan Meier.
But I believe that it was an error on behalf of the prosecution to grant immunity with the woman who did send the most damaging messages.
They painted themselves into a corner so it was impossible to reach justice.
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Elementary School teacher - Copenhagen