 On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the defense representing Lori Drew is arguing that the charges against her are not adequately supported by U.S. law. Back in 2006, Drew allegedly created a phony MySpace profile she used to harass a former friend of her daughter. The friend, Megan Meier, was predisposed to depression, and as a result of the malicious, repeated verbal assaults, tragically committed suicide. After searching for a legal foundation for the case against Drew, prosecutors in Los Angeles- where MySpace.com has its social networking website servers- charged Drew with “conspiracy and accessing computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress.” She pleaded not guilty and filed a motion to dismiss her case earlier this month; the motion was denied and she is set to stand trial in Federal courts October 7th. However, the defense is continuing to battle the charges, claiming that “prosecutors are bending a cyber crime statute” to enhance their case. The prosecutors seem to be basing their case off of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Drew’s attorneys question the relevance of this act and whether or not it is substantial grounds for a trial. But it appears they have fallen somewhat short of backing their claim. While the prosecution “filed voluminous motions last week,” detailing the correlation between the statute and the cyber-harassment, the opposition “filed a thin six-page reply” which was reportedly nothing but a weak rebuttal. Defense attorney H. Dean Steward claimed that “Cyber bullying is not, under any definition, trespass or theft.” But Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Krause argues, as the AP reported, that “Congress envisioned the statute ‘as a tool to address all manner of cyber crimes.’” Cyberbullying certainly falls under that category, perhaps now more than ever since California and Missouri – Meier’s home state- recently deemed cyberbullying illegal. |
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