MySpace Suicide Case Nears Trial

by Matt Kelley · 2008-11-11 14:04:00 UTC
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The now famous "MySpace" suicide case is set for trial next week, but the suicide might not be mentioned in the courtroom. Lori Drew is charged in federal court with three counts of accessing computers without authorization and one count of conspiracy; it's the first time the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act has been used to prosecute someone for potentially breaking a website's terms of service barring users from setting up false accounts

Here's a quick summary of the case:

Drew's 13-year-old daughter was a longtime friend of neighbor Megan Meier, who was also 13. The girls had a fight, and Drew, along with her daughter and perhaps a few others, created a MySpace profile of a fake boy named "Josh Evans." They used the Evans character to attract Meier and tease her. Meier was being treated for depression, and she hung herself after "Evans" sent her a message saying the world would be better off without her.

In a pretrial hearing yesterday, U.S. District Judge George Wu said he was leaning toward keeping mention of the suicide out of the jury trial, still set to start next week.

"I don't necessarily think the suicide is relevant to the crime charged," Wu said, adding he thought details of Meier's death would unfairly prejudice the jury.

His decision would be a blow to the prosecution, which would likely have used the emotional aspect of the suicide to underline the seriousness of Drew's action. Some legal observers are saying Wu is right to keep this case strictly focused on the alleged crime and the law, but at least one columnist says he's wrong.

Some background and blog coverage on the case:

A fascinating profile of the case from the New Yorker in January.

Active discussions of the new developments on The Volokh Conspiracy and the WSJ Law Blog.

Associated Press: Suicide evidence likely out of MySpace hoax trial

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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