The St. Louis Post Dispatch has a story drawn from an interview with the forewoman of the jury in the Lori Drew case. An excerpt:
The forewoman of the jury that convicted Lori Drew of misdemeanors for cyber bullying said Monday that a majority of the panel favored a felony conspiracy verdict that could have sent her to prison.
Most jurors believed a felony conviction would send a message that Internet sites should be better regulated for fraud, the forewoman, Valentina Kunasz, said in a telephone interview.
But four jurors would not be convinced, Kunasz said, blocking a felony verdict.
“I would have liked to see this lady go to jail to change the way Internet sites are run,” said Kunasz, 25, a former hairdresser who lives in Los Angeles County.
. . .
Kunasz described herself as among eight jurors who believed that Drew acted maliciously.
“I didn’t think she intended to have this girl kill herself,” Kunasz said. “But she knew she was suicidal, depressed and taking medicines, and still continued to pursue this act.”
It didn’t matter much whether Drew typed the messages to Megan, or whether it was Sarah or Grills, Kunasz said. Drew didn’t stop it, and that was malicious.
“What is a 47-year-old woman doing egging on her child and employee to do this?” the juror asked.
Four holdouts on the 12-member jury believed that Drew set up the MySpace page to learn what Megan was saying about Drew’s daughter, not to harm her, Kunasz said.
“I wish that those four other jurors would have had a different opinion,” she said. “But they thought what they thought, and they were entitled to that.”
None of the other jurors could be reached for comment. . . .
Kunasz said the jurors rejected three felony charges