Lori Drew is Doomed

As of last week, it looked like Judge George Wu would forbid any mention of Megan Meier's suicide in Lori Drew's trial. Today Wu changed his mind:

Evidence from the suicide of a Missouri girl can be used by prosecutors against a woman charged with helping to create a false Internet identity that was used to harass the teenager, a federal judge has ruled….

U.S. District Judge George Wu previously indicated he might bar any mention of suicide because it could be prejudicial, but he changed his mind Friday after hearing lawyers' arguments.

Wu said he was now convinced that many prospective jurors would be aware of the suicide from reading news reports or seeing a recent episode of the TV show "Law and Order" that involved a similar scenario. [emphasis added]

Law and Order? Seriously? Drew's attorney, Dean Steward, on the news:

"The jury is going to end up thinking that Lori Drew is being tried for the death of Megan Meier," he said.

Rather than making a reasoned decision, he said, "this jury is just going to decide this by sympathy."

I hate to call this one in the state's favor, but things don't look good for the cyber bully from Missouri. For more on Myspace's most notable sob story, check out reason's miniature Lori Drew Archive.