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News: Former Rutgers student convicted in Tyler Clementi case
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Member Since: 6/29/2002
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Former Rutgers student convicted in Tyler Clementi case
Too harsh IMO. What he did was wrong but more of a college prank than true hateful intent. There are way worse bullies and criminals out there.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT
Quote:
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) -- A former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate's love life was convicted of all counts Friday in a case that exploded into the headlines when the victim of the snooping committed suicide by throwing himself off a bridge.
Dharun Ravi, 20, shook his head slightly after the guilty verdicts were read for all 15 counts, including bias intimidation, a hate crime, and invasion of privacy.
He could get years in prison - and could be deported to his native India, even though he has lived legally in the U.S. since he was a little boy - for his part in an act that cast a spotlight on teen suicide and anti-gay bullying and illustrated the Internet's potential for tormenting others.
Prosecutors said that Ravi set up a webcam in his dorm room in September 2010 and captured his roommate, Tyler Clementi, kissing another man, then tweeted about it and excitedly tried to catch Clementi in the act again two days later. About a half-dozen students were believed to have seen the live video of the kissing.
Within days, Clementi realized he had been watched and leaped from the George Washington Bridge after posting one last status update on Facebook: "Jumping off the gw bridge, sorry."
Ravi's lawyer argued that the college freshman was not motivated by any malice toward gays - a necessary element to prove a hate crime - and that his actions were just those of an immature "kid."
The defense also contended Ravi initially set up the camera because he was afraid Clementi's older, "sketchy"-looking visitor might steal his belongings.
Ravi was not charged with causing Clementi's death, and the suicide remained largely in the background at the trial, though some witnesses mentioned it and the jury was told Clementi had taken his life. Prosecutors were not allowed to argue directly that the spying led to his death; defense lawyers were barred from saying there were other reasons he killed himself.
Clementi's death was one in a string of suicides by young gays around the country in September 2010. President Barack Obama commented on it, as did talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.
New Jersey lawmakers hastened passage of an anti-bullying law because of the case, and Rutgers changed its housing policies to allow opposite-sex roommates in an effort to make gay, bisexual and transgender students feel more comfortable.
Testimony came from about 30 witnesses over 12 days, including the man seen kissing Clementi. The 32-year-old man was identified in court only by the initials M.B. Ravi himself did not testify, though the jury watched a video of his interrogation by police.
Ravi and Clementi, both 18-year-old freshmen from comfortable New Jersey suburbs, had been randomly assigned to room together at Rutgers, and Clementi had arrived at college just a few days after coming out to his parents as gay.
A string of students testified they never heard Ravi say anything bad about gays in general or Clementi in particular. But students did say Ravi expressed some concern about sharing a room with a gay man.
On Sept. 19, according to testimony, Clementi asked Ravi to leave their room so that he could have a guest. Later, Ravi posted on Twitter: "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."
Ravi told police that he viewed only seconds of the encounter via computer.
His friend Molly Wei testified that she and a few other students also watched the live stream of the men kissing. (Wei was initially charged in the case but was later accepted into a pretrial program that will allow her to keep her record clean.)
Two nights later, Clementi asked for the room alone again. This time, Ravi tweeted: "I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes, it's happening again." Ravi also texted a friend about a planned "viewing party" and, two students said, went to friends' dorm rooms to show them how to access the feed.
However, there was no evidence the webcam was turned on that night. Ravi told police he had put his computer to sleep. Prosecutors argued Clementi himself unplugged the computer.
According to testimony, Clementi submitted a room-change request form and talked to a resident assistant about what happened. He also used his laptop to view Ravi's Twitter site 38 times in the last two days of his life. He killed himself on Sept. 22.
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Member Since: 9/18/2010
Posts: 12,628
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His friend Molly Wei testified that she and a few other students also watched the live stream of the men kissing. (Wei was initially charged in the case but was later accepted into a pretrial program that will allow her to keep her record clean.)
Charged for what?
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ATRL Administrator
Member Since: 6/29/2002
Posts: 77,601
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Quote:
Originally posted by fabian_phipps
His friend Molly Wei testified that she and a few other students also watched the live stream of the men kissing. (Wei was initially charged in the case but was later accepted into a pretrial program that will allow her to keep her record clean.)
Charged for what?
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Invasion of privacy, cause he used her room and laptop to film.
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Member Since: 11/11/2010
Posts: 28,420
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I don't feel bad for him. He knew that what he was doing could potentially destroy Tyler's life. But the punishment is a little harsh. Maybe it will prevent this from happening again in the future.
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Member Since: 3/27/2009
Posts: 30,284
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Maybe this was a little too harsh, but he should've been punished. This was the ultimate invasion of privacy which shouldn't have been taken lightly. An E-bully can do just as much damage as a real one.
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Member Since: 4/22/2009
Posts: 11,768
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My grandmother knows someone who is friends with the Clementi family. This was never brought up in court, but Tyler had recently come out to his mother and she was extremely judgmental of him which may have been a factor in his decision to kill himself.
Ravi was clearly a dick but Tyler didn't even give Rutgers a chance to switch his roommate. A hate crime, seriously? ****ing ridiculous.
This anti-bullying **** is getting way out of hand. 
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Member Since: 4/6/2011
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Kworb,to be honest,you might think this is harsh but for me this is a way to let others know that it is definitely NOT nice to invade privacy to this extent without any consequence. I hope people will just mind their business and just not poke their nose where it does NOT belong.
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Member Since: 4/23/2011
Posts: 16,377
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Quote:
Originally posted by zombaland
Kworb,to be honest,you might think this is harsh but for me this is a way to let others know that it is definitely NOT nice to invade privacy to this extent without any consequence. I hope people will just mind their business and just not poke their nose where it does NOT belong.
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So an overly harsh sentence is okay because he can be used as example to warn people it's "not nice" to do what he did? What happened to being fair?
He should have taken the plea and done the community service and not tampered with the evidence and witnesses. If anything, he deserves to be punished for that.
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Member Since: 9/13/2011
Posts: 7,912
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Good. 
I hope he gets the maximum sentence.
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Member Since: 1/12/2012
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Good, they should do this more often
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Member Since: 9/21/2010
Posts: 29,122
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He should have taken the plea deal. 
Its gonna be all over the school newspaper on Monday.
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Member Since: 9/13/2011
Posts: 7,912
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Quote:
Originally posted by stevensaurusrex
My grandmother knows someone who is friends with the Clementi family. This was never brought up in court, but Tyler had recently come out to his mother and she was extremely judgmental of him which may have been a factor in his decision to kill himself.
Ravi was clearly a dick but Tyler didn't even give Rutgers a chance to switch his roommate. A hate crime, seriously? ****ing ridiculous.
This anti-bullying **** is getting way out of hand. |
They never brought it up in court bcuz it wasn't true. Tyler parents had no clue he was gay, so blaming is mom is a load of ****.
This guy recording Tyler twice without his knowledge bcuz he thought Tyler may be gay- I doubt he would have recorded him if he thought Tyler was straight. After the first video confirming his thoughts, he set up a Live Stream for all his twitter followers to view it. It was indeed a hate crime + invasion of privacy. Justice was served
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Member Since: 4/23/2011
Posts: 16,377
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Quote:
Originally posted by IWasHere
They never brought it up in court bcuz it wasn't true. Tyler parents had no clue he was gay, so blaming is mom is a load of ****.
This guy recording Tyler twice without his knowledge bcuz he thought Tyler may be gay- I doubt he would have recorded him if he thought Tyler was straight. After the first video confirming his thoughts, he set up a Live Stream for all his twitter followers to view it. It was indeed a hate crime + invasion of privacy. Justice was served |
Huh?
Tyler already came out to his parents before his first day at Rutgers and Ravi already knew Tyler was gay.
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ATRL Administrator
Member Since: 6/29/2002
Posts: 77,601
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Quote:
Originally posted by IWasHere
They never brought it up in court bcuz it wasn't true. Tyler parents had no clue he was gay, so blaming is mom is a load of ****.
This guy recording Tyler twice without his knowledge bcuz he thought Tyler may be gay- I doubt he would have recorded him if he thought Tyler was straight. After the first video confirming his thoughts, he set up a Live Stream for all his twitter followers to view it. It was indeed a hate crime + invasion of privacy. Justice was served |
They knew, he'd come out to his parents right before he entered college.
It's impossible to know all the details. But I don't believe Ravi is a homophobe. He was just making fun of his antisocial roommate who was inviting 30+ year old guys to their room to make out with. And his claim that he first set up the camera cause he was worried the older dude might steal something isn't that far-fetched either.
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This is why I hate some things in the US. Instead of trying to build upon this case to have more acceptance towards gays, they move backwards and convict this man of a hate crime, which it obviously was not. smh he was punished WAY too severely.
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Member Since: 12/31/2010
Posts: 26,257
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Honestly? I don't think this is fair.  Should he get in trouble? Absolutely, but years in prison? I'm pretty sure his intentions didn't involve hurting his roommate minus maybe a little embarrassment, much less cause him to kill himself. Besides, if his intentions were hateful, they don't have any proof.  I think they're deciding on this all too quickly.
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Member Since: 6/15/2011
Posts: 5,842
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He deserves to go jail, but deporting him would be going too far, especially since he's lived in the U.S. since he was a child.
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