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drew no blood
MySpace Trial: Jurors Wanted A Harsher Sentence For Lori Drew
25-year old Valentina Kunasz, thejJury forewoman in the recently-wrapped Lori Drew trial, says she can't stop thinking about Megan Meier. "I still have dreams about the testimony," Kunasz admits, according to Wired. Because of her emotional reaction, Kunasz says that she and the other jurors wanted to convict Drew of felony charges rather than misdemeanors. "Trust me; I was so for this woman going away for twenty years. However, on the harsher felony charge, it was very hard to find her guilty on the specific (evidence that was) given to us." More » -
drew no blood
MySpace Trial: Jury Is Close To A Verdict
Yesterday, at just before 5 p.m. Pacific time, the jury deciding Lori Drew's fate emerged to announce that it had reached a decision on 3 of the 4 counts against the Missouri mom, but were split on the fourth. According to the LA Times, Drew "is charged with three counts of violating federal computer statutes and one count of conspiracy," for creating the fake MySpace account she allegedly used to help torment her daughter's friend, 13-year-old Megan Meier. Wired notes that earlier in the day, the jury asked the judge "to clarify an earlier instruction related to the issue of a 'tortious' act — an act that causes malicious or negligent harm to, in this case, Megan Meier, which is a requirement for finding Drew guilty on the computer fraud charges." More » -
drew no blood
MySpace Trial, Day 4: Sarah Drew Says Megan "Was My Best Friend"
Yesterday marked the final day of testimony in the trial of Lori Drew, which may set precedent in cases of cyberfraud and social networking. Today at 9 a.m. a jury of six men and six women will convene to decide the fate of Ms. Drew, whose online bullying of Megan Meier allegedly violated the MySpace terms of use and drove the 13-year-old to suicide. Judge George Wu says he will not decide whether or not to dismiss the case until after the jury has deliberated. In the final day of testimony, Lori's 16-year-old daughter, Sarah, took the stand to complete her testimony, more details came out about Megan's role in the initial rift with the Drew family, and both sides provided their closing arguments. More » -
drew no blood
MySpace Trial, Day 3: Lori Drew's Daughter Speaks
Day 3 of the trial against Lori Drew, accused perpetrator of cyberfraud, continued on Friday with testimony from Drew's daughter and Megan Meier's former friend, Sarah. Sarah, now 16, testified that Megan said to her, "I don't know if I could live anymore." (Sarah burst into tears when Federal attorney Thomas O'Brien asked her why she didn't tell anyone about Megan's confession of suicidal thoughts.) Much of what Sarah said under oath directly contradicted the testimony of her mom's assistant, Ashley Grills, on whom Lori Drew is placing most of the blame. More on Sarah, as well as the possibility that the case may be dismissed today, after the jump. More » -
drew no blood
MySpace Trial, Day 2: Lori Drew Says, "It's Not Like I Pulled The Trigger"
Yesterday was Day 2 of Lori Drew's federal trial for cyberfraud in the tormenting of 13-year-old suicide victim Megan Meier. Day 1 focused on the emotional testimony of Megan's mom, Tina, who described her daughter's depression and last words. Day 2 involved Tina's cross examination by defense lawyer H. Dean Steward and the initial testimony of Drew's accomplice in Megan's tormenting, Ashley Grills, who testified with government immunity. Lori Drew's hairdresser also took the stand, and her testimony about Drew's glee while mocking Megan was perhaps the most damning of all. More » -
drew no blood
MySpace Trial, Day 1: Megan Meier's Last Words
It's been a year since we first wrote about Megan Meier, the 13-year-old driven to suicide after being tormented on MySpace by a grown woman posing as a made-up boy named Josh Evans. The trial of that woman, 49-year-old Lori Drew, began yesterday. Drew is being prosecuted in federal court for cyberfraud under a 2005 telecommunications law. The details of the first, highly emotional, day in court are after the jump, including heartbreaking testimony from Megan's mom, Megan's last words, and the prosecution's assertion that Lori "fully intended to hurt" Megan. More » -
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drew no blood
MySpace Trial Jury May Not Even Hear About Megan Meier's Suicide
The latest news on the Lori Drew trial is frustrating and confusing: Apparently the judge will prohibit prosecutors from presenting evidence of Megan Meier's suicide as part of their case. "I don't necessarily think the suicide is relevant to the crime charged," Judge George H. Wu says. He thinks details of Meier's death would "unfairly prejudice the jury." More » -
Federal Judge George H. Wu wants more time to consider a defense motion to throw out the case against Lori Drew. As you'll recall, Drew participated in a MySpace hoax which allegedly led a 13-year-old girl to hang herself. Today, the AP reports that Judge Wu will most likely reject the motion, but wants to look at arguments more closely. Question: Why is he even considering dismissing the case? The trial is scheduled to begin November 18. [LA Times]
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drew no blood
Lori Drew Pleads Not Guilty In MySpace Suicide Case
Lori Drew, the worst person on the internet and the evildoer behind the MySpace hoax that arguably drove 13-year-old Megan Meier to suicide, has plead not guilty to charges of "internet fraud and conspiracy to inflict emotional distress," reports the L.A. Times. (For those of you who missed our exhaustive Meier coverage, Drew and an 18-year-old accomplice created a fake MySpace profile for a "Josh Evans" to torment Megan because of some slight towards Drew's daughter. After being rejected by Josh, Megan, who had a history of emotional problems, hung herself.) According to the Wall Street Journal, "The theory of the case seems to be that when Drew registered on MySpace she agreed to certain terms of service that required her to, among other things, provide 'truthful and accurate registration information' and 'refrain from promoting information that' she knew was
'false or misleading.'" More » -
drew no blood
Lori Drew Indicted For Inviting Megan Meier To Touch Her "Snake"
Lori Drew has been indicted! (We totally want to marry the California courts today.) The Los Angeles feds have indicted the Missouri mom who masterminded the MySpace hoax that led 13-year-old Megan Meier to hang herself on charges of fraud and conspiracy in a case that probably has some... interesting First Amendment implications! But whatever, we are generally satisfied. Lori Drew, who created a fake MySpace profile for a 16-year-old named "Josh Evans" and used it to fuck with Megan in retaliation for ending her friendship with her daughter, has yet to speak up for herself, but every time we think, "Just leave her alone already," someone else speaks out with another testimonial to her shittiness. Today we learn a little more about "Josh"'s flirting technique. More »
drew no blood
New York, 8:47 PM
Thu Dec 4
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