Lori Drew On Trial For Breaking MySpace’s Rules
Posted by: Catherine Strawn
Filed in:
news
12:45PM, Thursday November 20th 2008
A big trial is going on right now in Los Angeles. Lori Drew, 49, the woman who is accused of using harassing a 13-year-old girl on MySpace, leading to her suicide, was charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization, to which she pleaded not guilty. The trial is our country’s first that deals with cyber bullying, so what happens to Drew is kind of a big deal. To bring you up to speed on things, here’s what led Drew to court…
Drew supposedly opened a MySpace account under the name “Josh Evans” and created a profile for this person, a 16-year-old boy. She and others used the account to talk to 13-year-old Megan Meier, a neighbor of Drew’s and former classmate of Drew’s daughter. Meier supposedly ended a friendship with Drew’s daughter, and Drew decided to torment the girl in retaliation. So, out of nowhere, “Josh” befriended Meier on MySpace, started talking and flirting with her, and then, one day, pulled the plug and was mean to Meier, who was already being treated for ADD and depression, who hung herself in her closet and died the next day.
Perhaps the craziest part of the case is that Drew isn’t on trial for murder or any violent crime. Mostly, she’s in court because she violated MySpace’s rules. A judge said Meier’s suicide should not be a factor in the case, but don’t you think jurors will have a hard time not considering the girl’s death? The story has been everywhere for the last couple years, and how can you not side with a 13 year old over a 49-year-old Mean Girl?
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Leigh Raines
wrote on November 20 2008 @ 01:34 pm: [report]
I’m almost crying about this story. What a sick f*ck of a woman.
Mia
wrote on November 20 2008 @ 01:49 pm: [report]
Oh I remember this story, and it’s complete #&@$% she’s only be held liable for breaking the terms of Myspace; she practically assisted a young girl in suicide. This is the kind of stuff that makes me wish the death penalty was harsher.
thegr8brownie
wrote on November 20 2008 @ 04:21 pm: [report]
the prooblem is tho…
you cannot charge someone with making someone else commit suicide, because where do you draw the line? Anyone could be blamed and held accountable for someone else’s suicide. Parents, teachers, bullies,friends, family, ANYONE! And when it comes down to it, the only person responsible for suicide is the person who killed themselves. Harsh i know, but true.
I think they are doing everything they can to punish this women, but its very complicated. No one will be siding with that lady anyway.
juliePS
wrote on November 21 2008 @ 07:04 am: [report]
I know that it’s a slippery slope in terms of holding this woman accountable for the suicide, but I’m glad they’re bringing her up on other charges because this story makes me sick. I just… I want her to be punished for SOMETHING for her involvement in this. I’ve been hearing about this story for months and it still makes me irrationally angry every time.
Amelia
wrote on November 21 2008 @ 07:11 am: [report]
@juliePS I know what you mean—I want them to dig up every offense ever and make her pay for that. Unpaid parking tickets! Late library fees! Jaywalking! It’s kind of like the OJ Simpson case—he got off scott free on murdering Nicole Brown, but the jurors in this last case TOTALLY punished him harsh because of that.
EastCoastMale
wrote on November 21 2008 @ 10:27 am: [report]
I agree that she should be punished to the fullest extent and even though it is plainly obvious she directly contributed to the girls death, by legal standard I think brownie is right because then that would open the door to everything. She definitely has issues if she stooped to doing such a thing while she is supposed to be a mature adult. I am guessing there is some kind of trauma or mistreatment in her past but thats just a guess. Either way, I hope they throw the book at her and leave her in her cell with some rope.