Guilty verdict on lesser charges in MySpace case

Right: The rotund Lori Drew (right) and her fat little daughter.

A Los Angeles federal jury today convicted a Missouri mother of misdemeanor charges in the nationally watched MySpace cyber-bullying case involving the suicide of a 13-year-old girl. But the jury rejected more serious felony charges against Lori Drew.

Drew, 49, was accused of violating federal computer statutes and one count of conspiracy for creating the MySpace account in the name of a fictitious 16-year-old boy and using it to engage in an online relationship with 13-year-old Megan Meier.

Meier, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., hanged herself Oct. 16, 2006, after the fictitious boy, “Josh Evans,” told her the world would be a better place without her, prosecutors alleged.
During the five-day trial in front of U.S. District Judge George H. Wu, prosecutors sought to portray Drew as a callous and reckless woman who gleefully took part in the hoax on Meier, despite knowing the girl had struggled with depression for years and had a vulnerable psyche.

Among the government’s witnesses were a close friend of Drew’s, a business associate and her hairdresser, each of whom testified that Drew had admitted playing a role in the hoax.

Drew’s attorney, H. Dean Steward, had accused the government of overreaching by prosecuting his client for something that people routinely do on the Internet: Create bogus identities. He also sought to cast Megan as a deeply troubled teen who had already considered suicide and who was taking an antidepressant medication that carried a warning of suicidal tendencies as a potential side effect. Authorities in Missouri investigated the circumstances surrounding Megan’s death in the months after it occurred but concluded there was no statute under which Drew could be charged.

Thomas P. O’Brien, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, claimed jurisdiction over the case based on the fact that MySpace is based in Beverly Hills.

MySpace case goes to Los Angeles federal jury

Judge in the widely watched cyber-bullying case revolving around a teen's suicide could still decide to throw it out, even after jurors reach a verdict.
By Scott Glover November 25, 2008

A closely watched cyber-bullying case in which a Missouri woman is accused of creating a fake MySpace account and using it to torment a teenage girl who later killed herself was turned over to a federal jury in Los Angeles on Monday.

The case centers on events leading up to the death of 13-year-old Megan Meier. An eighth-grader in suburban St. Louis, Meier hanged herself with a belt in her bedroom closet two years ago after she was suddenly dumped by someone she believed was a 16-year-old boy she'd met on the MySpace website. But the boy, Josh Evans, didn't exist.

"Folks, that's Josh Evans right there," U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien told jurors, pointing to the defendant, 49-year-old Lori Drew, moments before the jury was given the case.

Drew showed no emotion as she returned the gaze of the six men and six women who will consider her fate.

During a five-day trial in front of U.S. District Judge George H. Wu, prosecutors sought to portray Drew as a callous and reckless woman who gleefully took part in the hoax on Meier, despite knowing the girl had struggled with depression for years and had a vulnerable psyche.

Among the government's witnesses were a close friend of Drew's, a business associate and her hairdresser, each of whom testified that Drew had admitted playing a role in the hoax. Drew's attorney, H. Dean Steward, accused O'Brien and his colleagues in the U.S. attorney's office of engaging in a misguided prosecution that was meant to exact revenge for the tragic death of a pretty young girl, even though Drew is not charged with her killing.

"You'd think this was a homicide case, but it's not," Steward told jurors during his closing arguments. He insisted his client is not guilty of the charges the government did file -- in essence, intentionally violating the rules governing the use of computers on MySpace and then using a computer to intentionally inflict emotional distress.

When the government rested its case Friday afternoon, Steward asked to have the charges thrown out, arguing that Drew could not have intentionally violated MySpace rules because there was no evidence she'd ever read them. Judge Wu, after considering the matter over the weekend, said Monday morning that it was "a complicated legal issue" that he had not yet resolved. He allowed the trial to proceed, but said he would take the motion to dismiss under submission, meaning he could decide to throw out the case even if the jury reached a verdict.

Authorities in Missouri investigated the circumstances surrounding Megan's death in the months after it occurred but concluded there was no statute under which Drew could be charged. O'Brien's office asserted jurisdiction this spring, based on the fact that MySpace is based in Beverly Hills.

The trial, featuring tearful testimony from Megan Meier's mother, Tina, about the night she discovered her daughter hanging in the makeshift noose, has played out before an often packed courtroom and drawn media attention from across the country.

Prosecutors have touted the case as the first of its kind in the nation.

According to prosecutors, Drew; her daughter, Sarah, then 13; and Drew's employee, Ashley Grills, then 18, set up an account in the name of Josh Evans because they believed Megan Meier had been spreading rumors about Sarah Drew. The bogus profile, featuring a photo of an attractive boy who'd supposedly just moved to town, was designed to lure Megan into an online relationship in which she might repeat some of the rumors she was allegedly spreading about Sarah.

The ploy worked to an extent. Megan Meier began exchanging e-mails with the boy she came to know as Josh. The exchanges were innocent at first but turned nasty on the afternoon of Oct. 16, 2006.

Megan received an e-mail from "Josh" that day telling her that "the world would be a better place without you" and to "have a [lousy] rest of your life." "You are the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over," Megan allegedly replied before tearfully going up to her room and making good on the threat.

The government's star witness was Grills, a longtime family friend of the Drews and an employee of Lori Drew's coupon business.Grills, who was given immunity in exchange for her testimony, said it was her idea to make up the MySpace profile and that she did most of the messaging with Meier. But she said Lori Drew was aware of what she was doing and sometimes helped formulate the messages that were sent to Megan.

Grills testified that she warned Drew that what they were doing was illegal but that Drew brushed her off, telling her, "People do it all the time."In his closing arguments, Steward questioned Grills' intelligence and suggested she was exaggerating Drew's role to make sure she didn't wind up getting charged with a crime.

He said Grills' testimony was inconsistent with earlier statements she'd made to authorities and to an interviewer on "Good Morning America." The line about Josh Evans being "the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over" didn't come up until just days before trial, he said.

Near right, Megan Meier; far right Ashley Grills

"It's just a lie," Steward told jurors. "When you think of Ashley Grills, bless her heart, the word 'pathetic' has got to come up."Glover is a Times staff writer.

Lori Drew saw MySpace plan as clever, witness says

Right: Lori Drew, Cyber-bully

A family friend says she helped Lori Drew create a bogus MySpace profile to 'expose' a teenager who later committed suicide.

By Scott Glover
November 21, 2008

A Midwestern mother accused of using a fake MySpace account to torment a teenager who later committed suicide thought the plan was a clever and funny way to deal with a girl she suspected was spreading lies about her daughter, according to witnesses Thursday. Ashley Grills, who was testifying under a grant of immunity, said that Lori Drew was directly involved in creating the bogus MySpace profile of a 16-year-old boy that was used to lure Megan Meier, 13, into an online relationship.

Grills, 20, said she was the one who came up with the idea of the MySpace account, but that Drew agreed and "thought it was funny."

Megan, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., hanged herself two years ago after receiving an e-mail from the fictitious "Josh Evans" saying "the world would be a better place without you," prosecutors allege.

Drew, 49, is accused of violating federal law by providing false information to MySpace to set up the account, obtaining information about Megan in violation of MySpace rules, and then using the MySpace account to intentionally "inflict emotional distress" on the girl.

The circumstances surrounding Megan's death caused a national uproar when they were revealed last year. Authorities in Missouri launched an investigation but eventually concluded that there was no statute under which Drew could be charged. U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien indicted Drew in Los Angeles on the computer charges this spring on the theory that because MySpace is based in Beverly Hills, his office had jurisdiction.

Drew's attorney, H. Dean Steward, on Thursday sought to cast Megan as a deeply troubled teen who had already considered suicide and who was taking an antidepressant medication, which warned of suicidal tendencies as a potential side effect. He read to jurors an e-mail Megan allegedly sent to Drew's daughter, Sarah, less than a year before the suicide: "Every day is a struggle. I can't do anything right. I'm always in trouble."

Grills, a longtime family friend of the Drews' and an employee of Drew's coupon distribution business, testified that she, Drew and Drew's daughter were trying to figure out a way "to expose Megan" for rumors she'd allegedly been spreading about Sarah.

Drew was present when Grills sat at the computer and agreed to the terms of service, though they did not read them, Grills testified. She said Drew also helped formulate messages that were sent to Megan and at one point suggested that they have "Josh" arrange a meeting with Megan at a local mall at which Sarah and her friends would "pop out" and tease Megan.

Grills said that she and Sarah thought they might get in trouble for fabricating the Josh Evans account, but that Drew told them "that it was fine and people do it all the time."

Under cross-examination, Grills said she thought she sent the final e-mail telling Megan that the world would be better off without her from an AOL instant messaging service, not MySpace.

In comments to a reporter outside the courtroom, Steward suggested that the revelation was a blow to the government's claim of jurisdiction. Grills also testified under cross examination that Megan had been trading insults with several people online the afternoon she killed herself.

In other testimony Thursday, the Drews' hairdresser and a classmate of Drew's daughter said both Lori and Sarah Drew acknowledged to them that they were involved in the hoax on Megan.

The hairdresser, Dawn Chu, said Lori Drew told her she had a "funny story" to tell her before recounting how she and Grills had set up the account to fool Megan. Chu said she told Drew that doing so was wrong, but that she didn't respond.

She said Drew came in for a haircut again on the day of Megan's wake. Chu said she asked Drew why she was going to the wake, given her role in the hoax."It's not like I pulled the trigger," she quoted Drew as saying.

Mom of teen who killed self testifies in MySpace trial

Associated Press
3:44 PM PST, November 20, 2008

LOS ANGELES -- The mother of a Missouri girl who committed suicide after being targeted by an Internet hoax testified Thursday that she was unaware that her daughter had posed as an 18-year-old while allegedly trying to chat online with boys.

Tina Meier has said she had monitored 95 percent of the online activity of her 13-year-old daughter, Megan Meier.

Under questioning by defense attorney Dean Steward, Meier also said she did not recall a report from a psychologist that her daughter was portraying herself with sexual innuendo during online activities."Don't you remember her portraying herself as an 18-year-old?" Steward asked."No I don't," Meier said.

The testimony came during the trial of Lori Drew, who is accused of conspiring with her then 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, and Drew's then 18-year-old assistant, Ashley Grills, to dream up a fictitious identity on MySpace to find out what Megan saying about Sarah.

Megan, who was being treated for depression and attention deficit disorder, committed suicide in 2006 after receiving cruel messages from a fictitious boy who prosecutors say was created as part of the hoax.

Drew has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization. Each count carries a potential sentence of five years in prison.

It's believed to be the nation's first cyber-bullying trial and its results could set a legal precedent for dealing with the issue of online harassment.

Steward told jurors Drew did not violate the Computer Use and Fraud Act -- used in the past to address computer hacking -- and reminded them she was not facing charges dealing with the suicide.

Under cross-examination, Tina Meier also said she had reprimanded her daughter after discovering in the summer of 2006 that Megan and Sarah had together created a false identity for a fictional girl named Kelly on MySpace. Meier said her daughter was "boy crazy."

In other testimony, Christina Chu, a hair stylist, testified that she was upset when Lori Drew told her she had helped set up a fake MySpace account to get back at an unnamed girl. Chu said Drew showed no response when Chu told her that was wrong.

Drew returned to the hair salon on the day of Megan's wake, and employees asked why she and her family had decided to attend."'It's not like I pulled the trigger,"' Chu quoted Drew as saying.

Grills was expected testify later in the day with immunity from prosecution.

While the trial is expected to center on the social networking site's terms of service, most of the first day's testimony dealt with Megan's suicide.

A composed Tina Meier told jurors her daughter was taking medication for attention deficit disorder and depression and that she struggled with low self-esteem.

"I was nervous she would do something," said Meier, adding that Megan previously tried committing suicide.

Meier said Megan was bullied at the Missouri school she attended with Sarah. Megan transferred to a private school months before she killed herself.

Bullies Get Pleasure From Pain

Brain Scans Show Joy When People Hurt
POSTED: November 7, 2008

Brain scans show that aggressive young people get pleasure when they see others in pain, University of Chicago researchers say.

The images showed that brain areas associated with rewards were highlighted when people thought of as bullies watched a video clip of someone inflicting pain on another person. Other young people did not have that response.

Researcher Jean Decety said the results will help people work with violent teens.

The study compared eight 16- to 18-year-old boys with aggressive conduct disorder to a group of adolescent boys with no unusual signs of aggression. The boys with the conduct disorder had started fights, used a weapon or stolen directly from someone.

The vides they watched showed accidents as well as one person stepping on another's foot.
The aggressive teens showed activity in pleasure centers of the brain when someone was intentionally hurt and a lack of activity in an area that is thought to regulate self-control.

The work appears in the current issue of the journal Biological Psychology.