ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEES
James R. Recker Steve Carter
Indianapolis, IN Attorney General of Indiana
Michael Gene Worden
Deputy Attorney General
______________________________________________________________________________
In the FILED
Indiana Supreme Court May 13 2008, 3:41 pm
_________________________________
CLERK
of the supreme court,
court of appeals and
No. 67S01-0709-JV-373 tax court
A.B., Appellant (Respondent below),
v.
STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee (Petitioner below)
_________________________________
Appeal from the Putnam Circuit Court, No. 67C01-0603-JD-20
The Honorable Judge Matthew Headley
_________________________________
On Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 67A01-0609-JV-372
_________________________________
May 13, 2008
Dickson, Justice.
A.B., a juvenile, appeals her adjudication as a delinquent child for her postings on the
Internet site MySpace.com that, if committed by an adult, would constitute the criminal offense
of Harassment.1 The Court of Appeals reversed, concluding that A.B.'s allegedly harassing mes-
sages were protected political speech. A.B. v. State, 863 N.E.2d 1212 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007), reh'g
denied. Disagreeing with this rationale, we granted transfer,2 and now also reverse the trial
1
Indiana Code §35-45-2-2 (2004).
2
The grant of transfer operates to automatically vacate the opinion of the Court of Appeals unless this
Court expressly adopts or affirms the Court of Appeals. Ind. Appellate Rule 58(A).
court, but for different a reason: the State failed to prove all of the statutory elements for the of-
fense of Harassment.
As a preliminary matter, we note that the evidence presented at the fact-finding hearing
was extremely sparse, uncertain, and equivocal regarding the operation and use of MySpace.com
("MySpace"), which is central to this case. Only two witnesses testified at the fact-finding hear-
ing, the school principal and A.B.'s mother. No expert witnesses were called. Neither of the
witnesses provided knowledgeable and reliable details about MySpace. The primary source of
information about MySpace came from the testimony of the principal, whose "understanding
[came] from talking to students and trying to go figure how to go about researching this." Tr. at
25. The principal testified: "I don't get on MySpace." Tr. at 36. The Commentary to Canon 3B
of the Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct advises: "A judge must not independently investigate
facts in a case and must consider only the evidence presented." Notwithstanding this directive,
in order to facilitate understanding of the facts and application of relevant legal principles, this
opinion includes information regarding the operation and use of MySpace from identified
sources outside the trial record of this case.
MySpace is "an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends."3 Most aptly
described as a social networking site, individuals can create "profiles" listing their interests in
books, television, music, movies, and so forth, as well as posting pictures, music, and videos.4
MySpace allows its members to control who can view the entirety of their "profile."5 On all
"profiles," certain information is displayed to other members and visitors that "allows our users
to identify each other and expand their network of friends."6 MySpace users have a choice to
3
About Us--MySpace.com, http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=misc.aboutus (last visited
March 31, 2008).
4
MySpace, http://www.myspace.com (last visited March 31, 2008).
5
Privacy-MySpace.com, http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=misc.privacy (last visited
March 31, 2008).
6
Id.
2
make their "profiles" public or private.7 For example, if a member wishes to restrict public ac-
cess to her "profile," she may make it viewable to only those that she has accepted as friends, but
information such as the member's photo and first name are still displayed for public view.8 A
"group" page differs from a "profile" in that "group" pages are sites where people of common
interests can join and make postings.9 A "group" can be public or private at the discretion of its
"moderator," or creator.10 Various sources cite MySpace user demographics to be predominantly
between the ages of fourteen and thirty-four, with thirty-four being considered a high estimate
due to people altering their ages to skew higher in some cases to mask their true age or to be hu-
morous.11
When the 2005-06 school year began, A.B. was a student at Greencastle Middle School,
where Shawn Gobert had been principal for thirteen years. Sometime before February 2006, she
transferred to a different school. In February 2006, Mr. Gobert learned from some of his stu-
dents of a vulgar tirade posted on MySpace that apparently targeted his actions in enforcing a
school policy. As appropriate for a responsible and prudent school administrator, Mr. Gobert
investigated. With the assistance of others, including some students, he discovered that a "Mr.
Gobert" "profile" had been created on a MySpace Internet web page, purportedly by him, and on
which A.B. had posted a vulgarity-laced tirade directed against him. In fact, another juvenile,
R.B., a friend of A.B. and at the time a student at Greencastle Middle School, had created this
false "Mr. Gobert" MySpace private "profile" and allowed access to it by twenty-six designated
"friends," one of whom was A.B. A.B. then made her posting about Mr. Gobert on this private
"profile". Thereafter, however, A.B. created her own MySpace "group" page, accessible by the
7
Id.
8
Id.
9
See generally, http://www.myspace.com.
10
Id.
11
See Micropersuasion: MySpace Mania, http://www.micropersuasion.com/2006/03/myspace_
mania.html (last visited March 31, 2008); Trendcatching: Myspace usage statistics, http://
www.trendcatching.com /2006/05/myspace_usage_s.html (last visited March 31, 2008); MySpace Statis-
tics, http://scottelkin.com/archive/2007/05/11/Myspace-Statistics.aspx (last visited March 31, 2008).
3
general public, and titled with a vulgar expletive directed against Mr. Gobert and Greencastle
schools. State's Exhibit 2.
As a result, delinquency proceedings were initiated against A.B. The amended petition
alleging delinquency charged A.B. with nine counts. Three of those counts, Count II, Count VI,
and Count IX, were dismissed at the fact-finding hearing. The remaining counts each allege
conduct by A.B., a minor, that if committed by an adult would constitute Harassment, a class B
felony pursuant to Indiana Code § 35-45-2-2(a)(4). The various surviving counts allege her use
of a computer network to harass Mr. Gobert. Counts I and V allege that A.B. used a computer
network to transmit the following:
"hey you piece of greencastle s**t. what the f**k do you think of me know (sic) that you
cant [sic] control me? huh? ha ha ha guess what ill [sic] wear my f**king piercings all
day long and to school and you cant [sic] do s**t about it.! ha ha f**king ha! stupid
b**tard!
Appellant's App'x at 32-4.12 Counts III and VII each allege Harassment based on A.B.'s trans-
mission of "die...gobert...die;" and Counts IV and VIII are based on A.B.'s transmission of
"F**K MR. GOBERT AND GC SCHOOLS!" Appellant's App'x at 32-4 (expletives identified
symbolically).
The offense of Harassment in the Indiana Criminal Code, includes the following:
A person who, with intent to harass, annoy, or alarm another person but with no intent of
legitimate communication:
...
(4) uses a computer network . . . or other form of electronic communication to
(A) communicate with a person; or
(B) transmit an obscene message or indecent or profane words to a person;
commits harassment, a Class B misdemeanor.
Indiana Code § 35-45-2-2(a)(4) (2004).
For a person to commit an act with the intent to harass, annoy, or alarm another person,
common sense informs that the person must have a subjective expectation that the offending
conduct will likely come to the attention of the person targeted for the harassment, annoyance, or
12
In this and other MySpace statements by A.B. quoted in this opinion, the vulgar expletives actually
used are identified symbolically.
4
alarm. In J.T. v. State, 718 N.E.2d 1119, 1124 (Ind. Ct. App. 1999), a delinquency adjudication
was reversed when the Court of Appeals concluded that a student did not "know or have good
reason to believe" that the alleged harassing information "would reach" the victim, and thus "did
not have the requisite intent to commit harassment." Id. at 1124.
The surviving counts in this matter differ as to the date of the alleged misconduct (Febru-
ary 15, 16, or 17, 2006), and they also differ in that some allege harassment by communicating
with a person, in violation of subsection 2(a)(4)(A), and others charge harassment by transmit-
ting an obscene message or indecent or profane words, in violation of subsection 2(a)(4)(B).
These distinctions do not affect our analysis because the intent element is the same for both vio-
lations. On the other hand, we note a potential difference depending upon whether the web post-
ing is publicly accessible. Counts I, III, V, and VII identify A.B.'s postings on her friend's false
"Mr. Gobert" private MySpace "profile." Counts IV and VIII refer to language used in the public
MySpace "group" page created by A.B.
A.B. contends on appeal that the evidence failed to prove the requisite intent common to
all the surviving counts: that she transmitted the messages with the intent to harass, annoy, or
alarm Shawn Gobert but without any intent of legitimate communication.
In juvenile delinquency adjudication proceedings, the State must prove every element of
the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. C.D.H. v. State, 860 N.E.2d 608, 610 (Ind. Ct. App.
2007). On appeal, our Court does not reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses.
Al-Saud v. State, 658 N.E.2d 907, 909 (Ind. 1995). "Reviewing solely the evidence and the rea-
sonable inferences from that evidence that support the fact finder's conclusion, we decide
whether there is substantial evidence of probative value from which a reasonable fact finder
could find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime." Id. at 909. We
will not disturb the fact finder's conclusion if the fact finder could reasonably find, beyond a rea-
sonable doubt, that the defendant committed the charged crime. Id.
5
We must thus determine whether substantial evidence of probative value was presented at
trial from which a reasonable fact finder could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that A.B.'s
conduct, if committed by an adult, would constitute the offense of harassment as charged.
The trial court's written findings referred to postings by A.B. on both her friend's private
"profile" and on A.B.'s public "group." To the extent arguably related to the intent element, the
court's order finding A.B. to be a delinquent child included these findings:
Here, Mr. Gobert is the principal. The web site was accessible by other students and the
public. It is obvious to the Court that such information, while not directly sent to Mr.
Gobert, was going to end up with him, due to the job and standing within the juvenile
community. [Appellant's App'x at 80.]
While the court does not know exactly what [A.B.'s] intent was, from the common sense
reading of the displayed message, the Court can not envision any other intent but to har-
ass, annoy or alarm. [Id. at 81.]
[T]he Court can not envision when such communication could be labeled "legitimate."
[Id.]
The allegedly harassing communications by A.B. identified in Counts I, III, V, and VII
were postings by A.B. on her friend's MySpace "private profile" site. This "profile" site, and
A.B.'s comments posted on it, could not be seen by the general public except for those persons
specifically accepted as "friends" by the creator of the "profile." This posting was not viewable
by the general public, and Mr. Gobert was able to view it only because R.B., the student who
created the "profile," eventually authorized him to access the "profile" during his investigation.
At the fact-finding hearing, there was no evidence showing that A.B. expected that Mr. Gobert
would see or learn about A.B.'s messages posted on the private "profile." We find no probative
evidence or reasonable inferences to establish that A.B., when making her postings on her
friend's private "profile," had a subjective expectation that her conduct would likely come to the
attention of Mr. Gobert.
The analysis differs as to Counts IV and VIII, which refer to A.B.'s remarks on her
MySpace "group" page. Because this site was publicly accessible, it may be reasonably inferred
that A.B. had a subjective expectation that her words would likely reach Mr. Gobert. This alone,
however, does not establish the intent element specified in the Harassment statute. To commit
6
the offense of Harassment, a person must have "the intent to harass, annoy, or alarm another per-
son but with no intent of legitimate communication." I.C. § 35-45-2-2(a) (emphasis added).
While A.B. titled her "group" page with the vulgar expletive, her own posting on the page elabo-
rated as follows:
[R.B.] made a harmless joke profile for Mr. Gobert. and [sic] some retarded b**ch
printed it out and took it to the office. [R.B.] is expelled, has to go to court, might have
to go to girl [sic] school, and has to take the 8th grade over again! that’s [sic] just from
the school, her paretns [sic] have grounded her, and took [sic] her computer, she cant
[sic] be online untill [sic] 2007! GMS is full of over reacting idiots!
State's Exhibit 2. Other than the title and this posting on A.B.'s "group" page, there was no other
evidence relevant to the issue of her intent as to Counts IV and VIII. And the content of the
posting presents strong evidence that A.B. intended her "group" page as legitimate communica-
tion of her anger and criticism of the disciplinary action of Mr. Gobert and the Greencastle Mid-
dle School against her friend, the creator of the private "profile." This affirmative proof makes it
impossible for the State to have carried its burden to prove "no intent of legitimate communica-
tion." I.C. § 35-45-2-2(a)(emphasis added).
Notwithstanding the trial court's observation that it could not "envision" any intent other
than to harass, annoy, or alarm Mr. Gobert, we find this conclusion unsupported by the evidence,
particularly the lack of knowledgeable testimony regarding the nature and operation of MySpace
and the extent to which its "profiles" and "groups" are publicly accessible. We also observe that
it is even more plausible that A.B., then fourteen-years old, merely intended to amuse and gain
approval or notoriety from her friends, and/or to generally vent anger for her personal griev-
ances. Reviewing the evidence presented at the fact-finding hearing, we conclude that there was
insufficient substantial evidence of probative value to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that A.B.
had the requisite intent to harass, annoy, or alarm Mr. Gobert when she made the postings. We
find no evidence or reasonable inferences sufficient to prove that A.B., in making the MySpace
statements with which she was charged, did so with the requisite statutory intent.
Because the evidence failed to prove that A.B. made postings and comments on MySpace
with the intent "to harass, annoy, or alarm" her former principal "but with no intent of legitimate
7
communication," I.C. § 35-45-2-2(a), the requisite intent common to the six Counts on which
A.B. was adjudicated a delinquent child, we reverse the judgment of the trial court.
Shepard, C.J., and Sullivan, Boehm, and Rucker, JJ., concur.
8