BESSEMER, MI (AP)-- The Michigan appeals court has thrown out the conviction of an Upper Peninsula teenager who used social media to fantasize about killing a boy, his dog and his goldfish.
The messages between four girls were made on Snapchat. The messages never were sent to the boy and he never read them. The girls believed they were private. But a Juvenile Court jury in Gogebic County convicted a girl, identified as J.P., of using text messages to terrorize another person.
The appeals court overturned the conviction Tuesday, saying there was no evidence that the teens actually intended to frighten the boy. Judge Elizabeth Gleicher says teens "sometimes make poor judgments" due to an inability to "foresee the painful consequences of their actions."
The girls didn't like the 13-year-old boy and said he was a bully.
