The trial of the closely watched case involving a Missouri mother who allegedly started a hoax on MySpace resulting in a teenage girl’s suicide is set to start as the court begins jury selection.
Lori Drew will be on trial in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. She is being prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Drew’s daughter, a minor, and her now-19-year-old employee Ashley Grills are also accused of participating in the hoax.
The much-publicized case has sparked recent controversy for attorneys representing Drew, specifically H. Dean Steward, who said Drew will not receive a fair trial because potential jurors know about the case.
The judge in the case said jurors will be instructed to determine if Drew broke Internet laws, and not whether she is to blame for the teenager’s suicide.
Drew on Trial
Drew is being accused of masquerading as a boy named Josh Evans and creating a false-identity account on MySpace. The fictitious boy befriended Megan Meier on MySpace and allegedly had an online friendship with the girl over the course of six weeks — but then turned on her, saying, “Everybody in O’Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you,” according to the Meier family.
After reading the last message from the MySpace “boy,” Meier hung herself in her bedroom closet.
Drew was indicted in May on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization, according to published reports. (Each count carries a sentence of five years in prison.) Drew is pleading not guilty to each of the counts, claiming that although she knew of the ruse, she had no part in it. Drew said Grills and her daughter opened the fake…