It was an overwhelming day for the friends and family of Megan Meier, as Lori Drew, the 49-year-old woman thought to be responsible for the teenager’s suicide, testified in a Los Angeles courtroom. The case is a very controversial one, with Drew facing charges of conspiracy and three counts of accessing a computer without authorization, but as Drew’s lawyer said, “this is not a homicide case.”

The story goes back to October 2006, when Megan Meier, 13, committed suicide after receiving harsh messages from “Josh Evans,” a fictional 16-year old boy that was the result of Lori Drew’s curiosity to find out what Megan had to say about her former friend, Sarah – Lori Drew’s daughter.

Megan and Josh became friends, but the story ended abruptly when Megan started receiving ruthless messages from her supposed friend, telling her “the world would be a better place without her.” For the first time since the case was made public, the prosecutors revealed Megan’s response to Josh’s message: “You are the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over.”

Megan’s mother told the court how she found her daughter upset over the messages she had received, to later find her hanged in her room. The girl died the next day, shocking an entire community and drawing attention over the improper conduct of Lori Drew, neighbor of the Meiers, who used the MySpace account to tease Megan, and to intentionally hurt her, as the prosecutor pointed out.

With all eyes on Lori Drew, another problem arises: the woman is being charged with violating the fraud computer act, and the trial takes place in California, where MySpace has its headquarters, because prosecutors in Missouri were unable to find enough evidence to charge her in the death of Megan Meier. Drew is accused of violating MySpace’s terms of service, which prohibits users from using MySpace accounts to harm or harass other users.

Furthermore, there is no law to cover such situations, and therefore the case revolves around the computer-fraud statute, usually used in hacking cases. Drew pleaded not guilty on all four counts, each of them carrying a potential 5 years in prison.

The case could set a precedent in cyber-bullying. Prosecutor Tom O’Brien said in his opening statement that Drew took advantage of the psyche of a vulnerable 13-year-old. According to Megan Meier’s mom, the girl was struggling to overcome low self-esteem and depression, and was taking medication for attention deficit disorder.

Lori Drew did not admit sending any of the harmful messages, saying one of her employees had in fact set up the account (although she did admit knowing about the account). But that was overturned by the testimony of one of Drew’s employees, Susan Prouty, who said Drew talked at one point about having created an account, and about her plans to send messages about Megan to her school in order to humiliate her.

According to Prouty, Lori Drew even told her daughter Sarah what to write to Megan, and said that “as a mother you have to protect your daughter.” What the court needs to establish now is whether Lori Drew took her role as a protective mother too far, pushing Megan Meier to commit suicide.