MySpace page of car crash victim subpoenaed in lawsuit

Marissa Schneider was terribly injured in the Seattle car crash that wasn’t her fault. Her family sued both the driver and Chrysler, the makers of her car, with allegations that her injuries were, in part, to a design flaw in her Dodge Spirit.

But now the lawyers for the Chrysler Company have issued a subpoena for a court order to get inside her MySpace page and see her personal blogs, and her family wants to know why.

“Cyber-investigations” such as these are becoming more common in lawsuits.

The driver of the car in the Seattle Auto Accident, a 21 year old Arlington woman, is now in a nursing home because she can’t talk or take care of herself. She was on her way to work when her car was hit by an on-coming vehicle that crossed the center line.

After denying the claim, Chrysler turned its attention on the victim, and issued a subpoena to get full access to Marissa’s MySpace account, which includes private blogs which have been largely unchanged since her accident.

“It’s what Marissa wrote and I don’t see anything that has to do with it. It’s just her private little messages to her friends,” said her mother.

Marissa’s MySpace page does contain an admission that she smoked marijuana in the past. But the family’s attorney says she was sober the night of the head-on crash, and that the driver of the other car was as well. Chrysler is trying to put blame on a young woman who at this point can’t defend herself.

“To say that anything posted on MySpace is gospel is ludicrous and it really paves the way for you to say: I can never post anything on this site because it’s going to be used against me,” said the attorney.

According to KING 5 news, a Chrysler spokesperson said Marissa’s auto accident was tragic but believes information on her MySpace page could lead to relevant evidence.

The spokesperson sent this statement – “This was a tragic accident and our sympathies are with Marissa Schneider and her family. We believe information on Marissa’s My Space page may lead to evidence relevant to this case. We cannot discuss this matter further as it is currently in litigation.”

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