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Lori Drew Jury Nears Verdict on Three Charges, Struggles With Fourth

By Ryan Singel, Kevin Poulsen, Sarah Lai Stirland, Kim Zetter, and David Kravets

LOS ANGELES -- The jury weighing a landmark federal cyberbullying case against 49-year-old Lori Drew adjourned at the end of the day Tuesday without issuing a verdict. But in a question to the judge, jurors indicated they'd reached a decision on three of the charges, and might be facing a deadlock on the fourth.

The jury -? composed of six men and six women ranging in age from mid-20s to late-70s -- will resume deliberations Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Drew is charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of unauthorized computer access for allegedly violating MySpace's terms of service by participating in the creation of a fake profile for a non-existent 16-year-old boy named "Josh Evans." The account was used to emotionally manipulate 13-year-old Megan Meier, who later killed herself.

Late Tuesday, following about six hours of deliberation, the jury assembled in the courtroom after passing a note to U.S. District Judge George Wu asking if they were allowed to reach a verdict on three of the charges, and announce a deadlock on the fourth.

"Can we be hung on one count but unanimous on the others?" the note read.

Wu indicated that was allowed, but directed the jury to adjourn for the day and return Wednesday to resume deliberation. Wu said he would ask the jurors tomorrow whether they were truly at an impasse on the fourth charge.

If so, Wu indicated to lawyers that he would give the jury an "Allen charge" -- a standard instruction urging jurors to continue deliberating and attempt to reach a unanimous verdict.

The jury did not indicate which charge it was struggling with, or what its tentative decision on the other three charges might be.

But since three of the four counts in the indictment are nearly-identical computer fraud charges, it seems most likely that the jury is confronting the single charge of conspiracy. Jurors can find Drew guilty of conspiracy if they conclude that she schemed with others in violating MySpace's terms, without necessarily committing a computer crime herself.

The question the jurors asked was the second they presented to Wu on Tuesday. Earlier in the afternoon they asked the judge to clarify an earlier instruction related to the issue of a "tortious" act -- an act that causes malicious or negligent harm to, in this case, Megan Meier, which is a requirement for finding Drew guilty on the computer fraud charges.

Photo: Lori Drew and her daughter, Sarah, outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Los Angeles/AP

See also:

• Prosecution: Lori Drew Schemed to Humiliate Teen Girl
• Judge Considers Throwing Out Lori Drew Case
• Government's Star Witness Stumbles: MySpace Hoax Was Her Idea, Not Drew's
• Dead Teen's Mother Testifies about Daughter's Vulnerability in MySpace Suicide Case
• Prosecutor: Lori Drew Intended to 'Prey' on Girl's Psyche
• Defense Says Jury Pool Filled with 'Viciousness' Towards Lori Drew
• Jury Selection Begins in MySpace Suicide Trial
• Former Justice Dept. Prosecutor Joins Defense in MySpace Suicide Case
• Experts Say MySpace Suicide Indictment Sets 'Scary' Legal Precedent
• Lori Drew Indicted in MySpace Suicide Case
• Indictment Expected This Morning in Megan Meier Cyberbullying Case ? Updated
• Teen Involved in MySpace Suicide Hoax Says Adult Also Participated
• Megan Meier Suicide Stokes the Internet Fury Machine
• Blog Readers Out Anonymous Adults that Newspaper Refused to Identify

Full post as published by Threat Level on November 25, 2008 (boomark / email).