MySpace Profile and Photo Evidence Used to Support Conviction for “Participation in Criminal Gang Activity” — State v. McCraney
[Post by Venkat] State v. McCraney, 2010-Ohio-6128 (Ohio Ct. App.; Dec. 15, 2010) There has been a proliferation of MySpace (and more recently, Facebook) cases in the criminal context. Most of these cases involve evidentiary issues where the prosecution seeks…
Court Finds Juvenile Delinquent Based on Allegedly Offensive Instant Messages — In re Alex C.
[Post by Venkat with additional comments by Eric] In re Alex C., No. 2009-399 (N.H. Supreme Court; Nov. 30, 2010) Rachel K.’s daughter ran away from home. In an effort to locate her, Rachel logged on to her daughter’s AOL…
Court Finds That Threatening Video Posted to YouTube and Facebook Can Constitute a “True Threat” — US v. Jeffries
[Post by Venkat] US v. Jeffries, 10-CR-100 (E.D. Tenn) (Report and Recommendation; Oct. 22, 2010) Background: The defendant was charged with transmitting a video through interstate commerce which contained a threat to kill or injure a Knox County Chancellor. The…
Forwarding Defamatory Email Immunized by 47 USC 230–Mitan v. A. Neumann
By Eric Goldman Mitan v. A. Neumann & Associates, 2010 WL 4782771 (D. N.J. Nov. 17, 2010) This is another email forwarding case. Others in this line include Phan v. Pham (2010), John Doe Anti-Terrorism Officer v. City of New…
Dentist Review on Yelp Gets Partial Anti-SLAPP Protection–Wong v. Jing
By Eric Goldman Wong v. Jing, 2010 WL 4457330 (Cal. App. Ct. Nov. 9, 2010). The SF Chronicle article on the complaint filing. The dentist’s “open letter” about the lawsuit filing. Tai Jing posted a negative review of Dr. Yvonne…
Victim’s Misstated Age on MySpace Could Contribute to Mistake of Age Defense–State v. Berry
By Eric Goldman State v. Berry, 2010 WL 4226707 (Or. App. Ct. Oct. 27, 2010) This is yet another case involving sex with an underage girl where the defendant believed she was older than she actually was. See my previous…
Blog Host Can’t Be Bound by TRO for User Posts (Blockowicz redux)–Bobolas v. Does
By Eric Goldman Bobolas v. Does 1-100, 2010 WL 3923880 (D. Ariz. Oct. 1, 2010) This lawsuit involves Bobolasgate.info, a Greek-language blog/website that appears to criticize Greek real estate and media mogul George Bobolas (ranked as one of the top…
Sending Politically Charged Emails Does Not Support Disturbing the Peace Conviction — State v. Drahota
[Post by Venkat] State v. Drahota, 280 Neb. 627 (Sept. 24, 2010) [pdf] Background: Drahota was a student at the University of Nebraska who corresponded via email with his political science professor Avery. According to the opinion, they “shared a…
September 2010 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Contracts * Hutchison v. Yahoo, 2010 WL 3706571 (9th Cir. Sept 20, 2010). AT&T’s early termination fee wasn’t a penalty, even as applied to a termination with only 2 weeks of service left. * Evan Brown: Software…
Yelp Wins 47 USC 230 Dismissal of Dentist’s Lawsuit–Reit v. Yelp
By Eric Goldman Reit v. Yelp!, Inc., 2010 WL 3490167 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Sept. 2, 2010) Dr. Glenn Reit is a Manhattan dentist. His Yelp page and website. As of May 2009, the Yelp page had 11 reviews: 10 favorable…