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Columbia Missourian

Jury in MySpace suicide case hints at partial verdict

By GREG RISLING/The Associated Press
November 25, 2008 | 8:22 p.m. CST

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles federal court jury deliberating in the MySpace cyber-bullying trial of a Missouri mother has suggested in a note to the judge that it has reached verdicts on three of the four counts.

The note sent Tuesday during the first day of deliberations asked, "Can we be hung on one count but unanimous on the others?''

U.S. District Court Judge George Wu told the jurors to return Wednesday and resume deliberations

Forty-nine-year-old defendant Lori Drew is accused of conspiracy and accessing computers without authorization for her alleged role in a scheme to create a phony profile of a teenage boy on the MySpace Web site to harass 13-year-old neighbor Megan Meier.

Megan, who was being treated for depression, hanged herself in 2006 after receiving a message that the world would be better off without her.

Drew, whose daughter was once a friend of Megan, pleaded not guilty to the charges.