In the Nation
MySpace mother: Trial was wrong
LOS ANGELES - A Missouri mother said she never should have been prosecuted for her role in a MySpace hoax directed at a 13-year-old girl who ended up committing suicide.A federal judge said Thursday that he had tentatively thrown out Lori Drew's convictions, acquitting her of misdemeanor counts of accessing computers without authorization. U.S. District Judge George Wu stressed that the ruling was tentative until he issues it in writing.
Drew showed no reaction to the decision in the courtroom. In a statement read yesterday on NBC's Today show, she said she agreed with it and felt she never should have been prosecuted.
Drew was convicted in November, but the judge said that if she is to be found guilty of illegally accessing computers, anyone who has ever violated the social networking site's terms of service would be guilty of a misdemeanor. That would be unconstitutional, he said.
- AP
Twin sisters, 82, die in Texas heat
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Identical twins, 82 years old, were found dead Thursday in their San Antonio home after the city sweltered through days of 100-degree heat.The bodies of Florence and Emma Jernigan were found in the home where they had lived all their lives.
Police said the single window air conditioner in the home was off.
A neighbor called police after the sisters had not been seen for several days.
- AP
