The fate of a Missouri mother accused of conspiring in a MySpace hoax that allegedly led to a 13-year-old girl’s suicide is now in the hands of a jury.

In Monday’s closing arguments, prosecutors stressed the emotional component — the suicide of Megan Meier who was allegedly drawn into an Internet ruse devised by Lori Drew, the mother of Megan’s one-time best friend.

She is accused of conspiring with her daughter, Sarah, then 13, and her 18-year-old assistant to cause emotional distress to Megan.

U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien portrayed Drew, 49, as the guiding force in a “mean” plan to humiliate Megan by inventing a make-believe boy who would woo her on the MySpace Web site, then be revealed as nonexistent.

“Lori Drew decided to humiliate a child,” O’Brien said in his summation. “The only way she could harm this pretty little girl was with a computer. She chose to use a computer to hurt a little girl and for four weeks she enjoyed it.”

The defense said the case is a matter of computer law and accused prosecutors of misleading jurors into thinking it was a murder case.

If this case is about computer law and the MySpace terms of use, Lori Drew could be found not-guilty and walk a free person. I hope the case is more than breaking web sites terms of use.

Source: AP – Read more