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The case against a Missouri mother accused of creating a fake MySpace page to harass a 13-year-old girl should be tossed out of court because if she is guilty as charged, then so are millions of Internet users every day, her attorney said in court documents filed today. The papers show that Lori Drew, who was the focus of national outrage after the girl committed suicide, will seize on a weakness in the prosecution case that has been noted by several legal experts since her May indictment: While her alleged behavior may have been wrong, there is no specific legal...

A 49-year-old woman pleaded not guilty to charges arising from her role in a MySpace hoax that ended with a 13-year-old girl committing suicide after being spurned by a fictitious boy. Lori Drew, 49, of Missouri, denied charges of conspiracy to inflict emotional distress and accessing MySpace computers without authorization. She will fact trial on July 29. Prosecutors say Drew set up a fake account on the social networking site and posed, with others, as a 16-year-old boy "Josh Evans" to target a classmate of her teenage daughter, Megan Meier. Meier hanged herself in October 2006, shortly after receiving a...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Missouri woman for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbor who committed suicide. Lori Drew of suburban St. Louis allegedly helped create a false-identity MySpace account to contact Megan Meier, who thought she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans. Josh didn't exist. Megan hanged herself at home in October 2006 after receiving cruel messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her. Salvador Hernandez, assistant agent in charge of the Los Angeles...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Missouri woman who prosecutors say used a fake MySpace persona to "torment, harass, humiliate and embarrass" a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide was indicted on Thursday on federal charges. Lori Drew, accused of participating in a hoax on 13-year-old Megan Meier that led her to believe she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy, was indicted on conspiracy charges by a U.S. District Court jury in Los Angeles. Meier had what she thought was an online friendship with the fictional boy, "Josh Evans."

His name was Josh Evans. He was 16 years old. And he was hot. "Mom! Mom! Mom! Look at him!" Tina Meier recalls her daughter saying. Josh had contacted Megan Meier through her MySpace page and wanted to be added as a friend.Yes, he's cute, Tina Meier told her daughter. "Do you know who he is?"