MySpace-Related Suicide Case Awaits Verdict

The high profile case involving the suicide of 13 year old Megan Meier will not receive a verdict for now, as the Los Angeles federal court judge involved in the trial explained that he needs more time to better analize the complicated legal issues surounding such a demanding task.

U.S. District Judge George Wu did not provide an estimate on the time needed and for now, everyone involved will just have to wait for the verification process to be completed. 

Megan Meier hanged herself in October 2006 after receiving several cruel messages on MySpace from what she thought to be a young boy. The fake profile actually belonged to a 49 year old woman named Lori Drew, who is now charged with three counts of illegally accessing protected computers without authorization and she is also accused of conspiracy. She faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted of all counts.

There are several complications that demand attention, as Drew’s family friend, 20 year old Ashley Grills, testifyed that she created the fake ’Josh’ account. The defendant’s daughter also said that Grills was responsable and that her mother only found out about it later and considered it a good idea at first, as a prank, as she knew that the two teenage girls were not friends any more. 

Missouri prosecutors refused to bring a case against Drew, as they concluded that even though her actions were reprehensible, they were not illegal. U.S. Attorney Tom O'Brien decided to file a federal case in Los Angeles because Fox Interactive, MySpace’s owner, is based in Beverly Hills.