Prop for Friday, November 21

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rabbits coming back wow!

Hey folks (miss me?). Here's today's prop. Sorry it's arriving so late--our prop writer had a medical emergency (is okay now, though).

MYSPACE TRIAL
MySpace case goes to court

Will Lori Drew be found guilty in the MySpace suicide case by December 2009?

On November 18, the infamous cyber-bullying trial against Lori Hill finally went to court. It’s in regards to the death of Megan Meier, a teenager who committed suicide in 2006 after allegedly being bullied on MySpace by Hill, who was pretending to be a teenaged boy named “Josh Evans.” Earlier this year, Hill was indicted with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to gather information in order to emotionally damage the young girl. According to US Attorney Thomas O’Brien, the federal statute on accessing protected computers has not been used in a social-networking case until now. Will Hill be found guilty on all four counts?

This proposition will pay off at POP$100 per share if Lori Hill is found guilty of all four charges by December 1, 2009 at 3 p.m. EST.

Related Links:

Wired: Dead Teen’s Mother Testifies about Daughter’s Vulnerability
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/lori_drew_trial/index.html

New York Times: Arguments in Case Involving Net and Suicide
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/us/20myspace.html?ref=technology

What a deliciously wicked prop you've come up with! It's like the car wreck that you just can't take your eyes off of.....

Back to business. Dec. 1? I found a website that says the trial should just take a few days, but there are already delays. And what if the jury takes a week or two to deliberate? And what about a hung jury and retrial?

And did you mean 2009, or 2008? I guess I assumed since the trial would be over relatively soon, that you meant 2008. But maybe not. It may be that no date is needed; you could say that if the jury is hung or comes back with less than 4 guilty verdicts, the prop pays $0.

Umm I'm not sure if I'm agreeing with chef or not, but this prop should not have a date. It is dependent on the outcome of the trial. It's like PLMISL.

I do think that the fact that the prop depends on the trial verdict, and not any of the appeals. So that when the trial is over it pays out.

Looks good. I agree with chef and traderboi that the prop shouldn't have a date, it should pay when the trial is over, and shouldn't include appeals.

what if she plea bargains for reduced charges there needs to be a statement there for that.

This proposition will pay off at POP$100 per share if Lori Hill is found guilty of all four charges by December 1, 2009 at 3 p.m. EST. This proposition will pay short if any plea bargain for lesser charges is introduced, or if the trial is delayed past Dec 1, 2009.

dbsquared-- I like that.

While I see everyone's point about the date, I think we need to keep it, because IF things get delayed, as they can, we need to have a cutoff point and avoid major confusion on the PPX end. Also, if the criteria of the payout statement are only partially met by the end date, that'll be a short, and that makes things a little more interesting.

The date IS really far away (leaving it at '09) so the trial will most likely be long over by then... basically, I'm leaving the date in as a buffer against PPX confusion, but since it's so far off, and given the nature of the prop, we probably won't need to be aware of it.

I found this case incredibly fascinating... when I first read about it I resisted a very strong urge to write a condemning letter to Lori Drew... I later read that she got plenty of those, so, well, why fuel the fire? Anyway, this'll be a fun one to watch, and I'm psyched we have a prop about it.

So, the statement, as dbsquared has arranged it:

This proposition will pay off at POP$100 per share if Lori Hill is found guilty of all four charges by December 1, 2009 at 3 p.m. EST. This proposition will pay short if any plea bargain for lesser charges is introduced, or if the trial is delayed past Dec 1, 2009.

And a special thanks to Abby/Rabbit for posting the prop for review yesterday!

chef, also, to address your questions:

"Back to business. Dec. 1? I found a website that says the trial should just take a few days, but there are already delays. And what if the jury takes a week or two to deliberate? And what about a hung jury and retrial?"

If there are delays past the date, or if anything except a guilty verdict occurs, it'll be a short. This is why we have the end date. A hung jury will also mean a short (if the date comes to pass and if Lori is convicted on all four counts). A retrial won't matter, really... whatever results are in by the dec. 1 2009 date will be what determine the prop's payout.

Thanks!

t

Fair enough. I admit I was confused by the one year date when the trial was going on right now.

Uhhhhhhhh

Did no one notice that the woman's name is screwed up in the prop language?

Her name is Laura DREW not Laura HILL.

One could make the case that this prop will never pay long because LAURA HILL will not be convicted or take a plea!

Keno-- it's fixed. For the record, if ever anything in a prop needs adjusting, and it doesn't affect the overall meaning of a prop, then making the adjustment is simply accomplished. Everyone can just relax and have fun-- there are no crises in PPX. Sometimes there are minor misplaced words or mistakes, and I am here to help fix 'em.

Thanks for all of your careful reviewing!

xot