By Associated Press

Los Angeles, CA – A defense attorney for the Missouri woman charged in a MySpace hoax that allegedly led to a 13-year-old girl's suicide says prosecutors are bending a cyber crime statute to prosecute his client.

At issue is whether the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is relevant to the case against Lori Drew. Prosecutors filed voluminous motions last week arguing the statute can be used to prosecute cyber bullying, though it has traditionally been used for crimes such as hacking into computers. The defense has filed a six-page reply arguing that Drew did not violate the statute.

Drew, of O'Fallon, is accused of helping to create a false-identity account on the MySpace social networking site and harassing her young neighbor, Megan Meier, with cruel messages.

Meier subsequently hanged herself in 2006.

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