A Tucson man could face prison time after a judge found he violated probation by talking about the wife of a city prosecutor on YouTube, leading others to harass her. The case has raised questions about a convicted felon's First Amendment rights.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Douglas Metcalf said videos posted online by and involving Lane Myers, 43, were designed to harass his victim and that Myers knowingly tried “to get around the conditions of probation” despite being “on clear notice.”
While Myers' attorney argued he merely was sharing opinions and shouldn't shoulder blame for how others reacted, Metcalf said, "He’s rolling the ball down the court, and it’s causing other to react. He knew he was not supposed to do this."
Myers pleaded guilty in July 2025 to felony charges of harassing and stalking Shannon Walker, the wife of Tucson prosecutor Matthew Walker, who was involved in prosecuting two cases against Myers dating back to 2024. Despite the plea, Myers has since maintained his innocence, telling The Arizona Republic he took the plea simply to get out of jail because he was facing personal and financial pressures.
People are also reading…
Myers initially left a voicemail on Walker’s work phone in September 2024, complaining about her husband and seeking resources from the University of Arizona law school, where Walker worked. But then he began posting videos about her that showed her work address and phone number and accused her of getting his then-girlfriend, who worked for a federal judge, fired.
The activity escalated from there, with Myers filming himself at Walker's workplace and telling his followers to call her and complain. Walker sought and was granted an injunction against harassment by Myers, who was later indicted twice by grand juries, in part for violating the injunction.
At his 2025 sentencing, Myers was placed on probation with conditions that forbade contact with the Walkers and limited what he could broadcast to YouTube. He remained in compliance for 11 months.
But in July 2026, probation officers took Myers into custody. They and the Pima County Attorney’s Office accused him of posting a series of videos about Walker that led Myers’ online followers to send her threatening emails.
"Hey Stupid (expletive). Did you think you got away with your lies? Get ready to lose everything you own to Lane Myers. Hope your ready for war,” one email read. Another simply repeated the C-word nearly 300 times.
The county also accused Myers of violating probation even after he was in custody, pointing to interviews he gave with YouTube livestreamers while in jail, in which he spoke about Walker and his case.
Myers’ attorney Mark Resnick said he plans to appeal on First Amendment grounds.
Walker said she was "relieved by the court's decision."
"People who work in our justice system should not have to worry that doing their jobs will make their families targets. I hope today’s decision reinforces that," she said in a statement emailed to The Republic.
Free-speech defense falls flat
Resnick argued that his client had a First Amendment right to speak about his case and that Myers’ YouTube activity while on probation vastly differed from the conduct he pled guilty to in 2025. The county was trying to hold Myers responsible for the actions of others with “no evidence," Resnick said.
“The state would like to say no one is allowed to support Lane, and if you do, we’re going to use the power of the state to destroy Lane,” Resnick said.
He argued Myers’ probation conditions were overly broad and vague, leaving Myers unclear as to what he could and couldn’t say about his case. He said probation officers failed to give Myers fair warning about potential violations and improperly resorted to an immediate arrest.
But Metcalf accepted none of those arguments, saying instead that he was “impressed” by the probation department’s diligence in visiting with Myers at the start of his probation to review conditions and remove YouTube videos.
Arguments that Myers’ memes were open to interpretation didn’t “pass the smell test,” Metcalf said.
The judge pointed to Myers’ meme that included the text “Shannon Walker” and showed pictures of an Australian rugby player named Shannon Walker and an astronaut named Shannon Walker standing on top of a woman with Pima County Attorney Laura Conover’s face superimposed on it. The rugby player’s shirt was edited to say “Lane’s lying, legal losers.” In the corner, Myers’ face was photoshopped on a miniature figure with an enlarged penis, pointing toward Conover.
The meme was “very harassing” toward the victim and “obviously a threat toward the enforcement of the law in general and that he’s out for the victim because of this case,” Metcalf said.
No clarity in what Myers can say about case
First Amendment experts who spoke with The Republic raised questions about whether Myers' probation conditions went too far in restricting the YouTuber's free-speech rights and effectively created a gag order.
Conditions that prevent someone from talking about their cases or about a city official — which Myers' conditions appear to do — are problematic "because that covers even saying things that are true or even saying things that are not harassing,” said Aaron Caplan, who formerly taught at Loyola Marymount University's law school in Los Angeles.
Still, Caplan and others noted that courts regularly uphold conditions for felons that they wouldn't for other civilians.
At the hearing, the judge said he "appreciated" the critiques that Myers' conditions were overly broad but disagreed. Metcalf said he believed they conformed with the law and Constitution and refused to provide further clarity when asked by Myers' attorney what exactly Myers was allowed to say going forward.
“It’s not clear what he can do and what he can’t. He’s not trying to be coy," Resnick, the attorney, said of Myers' requests for clarity. "If you say he cannot discuss his case, he won’t ... but that’s what he’s asking for and what he’s been asking all along."
"You're trying to make me micromanage every little thing,” Metcalf said. He reiterated that Myers' conditions remained in place, then said, "That’s the extent of my ruling.”
Myers, who was denied bail and has been held at Pima County jail since July, will remain behind bars until his sentencing Oct. 6. He faces between six months and 4 1/2 years in prison, though the judge has the discretion to not send him to prison. Other options could include altering Myers' probation conditions to ban him from YouTube or increase his supervision.
“If I were you, I would be very careful about what you do,” Metcalf warned Myers, noting that his actions until then could be used against him.
Analysis: These 9 TUSD schools are at highest risk of merging or closing
