Lori Drew

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Charge:	Fraud (computer)
Sentence:	Exonerated After Conviction But Prior to Sentencing
Years Imprisoned:
Year Crime:	2006
Year Convicted:	2008
Year Cleared:	2009
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	California - Federal Case
County or Region of Crime:	Los Angeles
City of Crime:	Los Angeles
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Lori Drew was wrongly convicted on November 26, 2008 of misdemeanor charges related to the October 2006 suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier in Missouri, who read vicious MySpace postings by 47-year-old Lori Drew who pretended to be her teenage daughter. Drew was charged under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act with violating MySpace's 'terms of service.' Two days after her conviction by a jury Drew's lawyers filed a post-verdict motion to vacate her conviction on the basis the statute was too vague for Drew to have known that her action could be a violation of the law. On August 28, 2009 Drew's trial judge granted her motion and ordered a judgment of acquittal on the basis the statute she was convicted of violating is too vague for her to have known she was committing a criminal act. The government did not appeal the ruling."
Conviction Caused By:	Trial judge didn't understand that her actions didn't constitute a crime.
Innocence Proved By:	"On August 28, 2009 Drew's trial judge vacated her conviction on the basis that the statute she was convicted of violating is too vague for her to have known she was committing a criminal act."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Judge Throws Out Conviction in Cyberbullying Case, By Rebecca Cathcart, New York Times, July 3, 2009"
Information Location 1:	http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/us/03bully.html?ref=global-home
Information Source 2:	"MySpace suicide case: conviction overturned, By Richard Koman, ZDNet.com, August 31, 2009"
Information Location 2:	http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/myspace-suicide-case-conviction-overturned/5325
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Lori Drew

Charge:

Fraud (computer)

Sentence:

Exonerated After Conviction But Prior to Sentencing

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

2006

Year Convicted:

2008

Year Cleared:

2009

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

California - Federal Case

County or Region of Crime:

Los Angeles

City of Crime:

Los Angeles

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Trial judge didn't understand that her actions didn't constitute a crime.

Innocence Proved By:

"On August 28, 2009 Drew's trial judge vacated her conviction on the basis that the statute she was convicted of violating is too vague for her to have known she was committing a criminal act."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Judge Throws Out Conviction in Cyberbullying Case, By Rebecca Cathcart, New York Times, July 3, 2009"

Information Location 1:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/us/03bully.html?ref=global-home

Information Source 2:

"MySpace suicide case: conviction overturned, By Richard Koman, ZDNet.com, August 31, 2009"

Information Location 2:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/myspace-suicide-case-conviction-overturned/5325

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: