A federal judge in Los Angeles reversed himself Friday and decided to allow prosecutors to use the 2006 death of a 13-year-old Dardenne Prairie girl, Megan Meier, in the cyber-bullying trial of former neighbor Lori Drew.
U.S. District Judge George Wu had signaled Monday that he was inclined to bar any evidence relating to the 2006 death of, saying that it was not related to the crime she's accused of and could prejudice jurors at Drew's trial, scheduled to start Tuesday.
But in a hearing Friday, Wu denied Drew's lawyers' motion to suppress any evidence of Megan's death or suicide.
Drew's lawyers had argued that Megan's death was unrelated to the charge that Drew faces, prejudicial and designed to inspire sympathy or even outrage among the jury.
In court filings, federal prosecutors said that Megan's death was essential to be able to tell a logical story to jurors and to allow witnesses to testify about what Drew allegedly did and said after Megan's death.
It also demonstrates that Drew's plot to “humiliate (Megan) and cause a troubled, depressed young girl emotional distress” succeeded, they say.
Megan and Drew's daughter had been friends but had a falling out. Prosecutors said that Drew and others, including Ashley Grills, an 18-year-old family employee at the time, created the fake online identity of a boy on the social networking site MySpace to befriend Megan and find out what she had been saying about Drew's daughter.
Hard to say what will ultimately happen, but neither of these motions bode well for Lori.
4 comments:
Cyber bullying is something new to this generation of parents. It used to be that kids were at least safe in their own home, but now they can be victimized right in their own playroom or bedroom through the use of the internet and texting. In fact, the role that technology plays in our kids’ lives is something no other group of parents has had to deal with. It’s the “smoking, drugs and alcohol” of today! The best way to keep your kids safe from cyber bullies is to teach them moderation when it comes to the use of the internet. Simply, the less time a kid spends on the internet the less likely he/she will find trouble there. This is exactly why it is important to teach kids, from an early age, how to use the internet in moderation so that technology doesn’t end up taking over their lives. We have a simple yet effective tool specifically designed for that. Check it out at www.prioritypatrol.com .
I agree. I think it's also imperative for parents to make the effort to understand the internet. At least to some basic level. I know of too many parents who aren't even aware of things their kids are doing, let alone what they're doing on the internet.
To your point, though, moderation is also important as far as social and physical health is concerned. My wife and I encourage our daughter to go outside, and have play dates with her friends.
btw.....dont think your use of the AB-coined term in the first line went unnoticed ;-P
Figured someone would catch it.
Fits, doncha think?
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