The jury rejected felony charges of accessing a computer without authorization to inflict emotional distress on Meier. It found her guilty of three counts of the lesser offense of accessing a computer without authorization.
Her lawyer clearly succeeded in focusing the jury on the narrow question of a computer violation. In his closing argument, Dean Steward argued: “If you hadn’t heard the indictment read to you, you’d think this was a homicide case. And it’s not a homicide case. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a computer case, and that’s what you need to decide.”
The defense has pending motions and will likely to seek to set aside these convictions in a post-verdict hearing and likely appeal.
Drew is looking at a year of jail maximum on the counts, which would likely run consecutively.
In the meantime, the woman, Ashley Grill, who recently admitted that she sent the disturbing final message to Meier (saying the world would be better without her) will not even see a symbolic charge. She was given immunity by the prosecutors.
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