Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Lori Drew Jury May Not Be Told of Megan Meier Suicide

lori drewIn a major blow to the prosecution, U.S. District Judge George H. Wu has indicated that he will suppressed the fact that 13-year-old Megan Meier killed herself after her adult neighbor Lori Drew attacked her on MySpace while pretending to be a young boy.

The suppression of the suicide fact would probably leave the jury wondering why such a big deal was being made over a prank. Drew faces one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization. Wu stated that he doesn’t “necessarily think the suicide is relevant to the crime charged and he is worried about the prejudicial effect on the jury. There is certainly a danger of such prejudice and Drew, 49, is not be charged with the suicide itself.

180px-megan_meier_ctProsecutors blocked an effort to have a bench trial and this is clearly a blow to their strategy. The problem is that the law remains ambiguous on cyberbullying as a crime. To this day, I do not understand why the family did not sue Drew in a tort action. What Drew did was despicable and juvenile, but I am not convinced that it was a crime. Indeed, such moves raise collateral concerns over the right to anonymity etc.

For the full story, click here.

4 thoughts on “Lori Drew Jury May Not Be Told of Megan Meier Suicide”

  1. WELL, THAT IS RIDICULOUS.

    This woman’s “prank” against a CHILD led to the child KILLING HERSELF. That’s the whole point!

  2. Hey JT, there is a funky link here on the #1:

    4 Responses to “Grand Jury Reportedly Investigating Crimes in the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Case”
    Feed for this Entry Trackback Address

    ——

    1. 1 Grand Jury Reportedly Investigating Crimes in the Megan Meier … Trackback on 1, January 9, 2008 at 2:18 pm

    2. 2 Lori Drew Indicted in MySpace Suicide Case of Megan Meier « JONATHAN TURLEY Trackback on 1, May 15, 2008 at 3:34 pm

    3. 3 The Lori Drew Indictment — More Questions Than Answers on the Basis for the Criminal Charge « JONATHAN TURLEY Trackback on 1, May 16, 2008 at 6:46 am
    Investigating Crimes

  3. I am not sure how there is a crime if the suicide cannot be heard by the jury? Without the suicide testimony, the word Prof. Turley used is correct…it was just a prank. I believe that there is no criminal case without this information being heard. Strange lady and a strange case.

  4. This is as it should be. Although I’m pretty sure this woman is mentally ill or possibly evil, she could just be stupid, childish and petty. The charges against her will have to do though. I just can’t see how you could make this rise to even a negligent homicide standard. Sticks and stones? Words may not break your bones, but they also usually don’t result in suicide either. If the state has a provision against assisting suicide, you could make the argument, but what a stretch. No, as terrible as this is, it’s not the crime it looks like and to make it a crime now would be closing the barn door too late (and a Constitutional violation to prosecute). As much as I’d like to see her face a more severe punishment for harming this child, I am afraid we’ll have to let karma sort this out beyond the charges at bar.

Comments are closed.