MySpace Case Goes to Trial

by Matt Kelley · 2008-11-18 05:30:00 UTC
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Jury selection starts today in the case of a Missouri woman who created a fake profile to torment a teenage girl and apparently contributed to the girl's suicide. On Friday, Federal District Judge George Wu (left) ruled that the jury could hear about the suicide. From the WSJ Law Blog:

According to the AP, at the Friday hearing, Drew’s lawyer, Dean Steward, argued the suicide evidence would lead jurors to focus on the death, rather than whether Drew violated the terms of service of MySpace. He added: “The jury is going to end up thinking that Lori Drew is being tried for the death of Megan Meier.” Rather than making a reasoned decision, he said, “this jury is just going to decide this by sympathy.”

The charge against Drew — that she violated the MySpace terms of service — incorporates an allegation that she did it with an intent to harm. So AUSA Mark Krause reportedly argued that Drew is charged with joining in a conspiracy to cause intentional infliction of emotional distress. “Showing that this victim took the ultimate step of taking her own life shows the level of her distress,” Krause said.

Read more background on the case in last week's post.

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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