Mike the Usurper wrote: The reason the internet makes a difference is because the "exchanges" happened via the California servers, and therefore the incident was in California, not here. That is why is was not pressed here, and is a pile of crap. If the same happened via phone and the switchboard is in St Louis, it becomes a St Louis incident? No. The fact that it happened over the internet means the crime is wherever the servers are? Again, no.
In my view, the jurisdictional issues are easy as both parties are in Missouri. I don't think the fact that servers in California were involved should make it an interstate problem. The same thing could happen interstate over the internet, so there is an inescapable federal policy problem here, but in most cases this sort of thing is going to happen locally and local authorities ought to be empowered to handle it. Did the local prosecutors fail to press charges because they thought that they would fail on a jurisdictional challenge, or did they press and get rebuked by the court system? Is there a specific precedent in play? Was it a federal or local court that made the determination? If it was a federal court, there is nothing that you can do, but there might be a case of a federal law that clarifies that what happens between people in Missouri stays in Missouri. If it was a state court than perhaps a state law would do. If they failed to prosecute with no legal rationalization than maybe the problem is with the Mayor? RE: Former Justice Dept. Prosecutor Joins Defense in MySpace Suicide Case | Threat Level |