Earlier threads here:
Secretly recording the gay roommate
Secretly recording the gay roommate - an update - grand jury indictment
From Reuters, today:
He’s apparently not a US citizen, so this could trigger his deportation at some point.
He might have to do jail time here first. THEN he gets exported.
I cannot *believe *he turned down the plea deal:
A Homer Simpson “d’oh!” is called for on his part.
I don’t know enough about the legal system, but does that imply he really didn’t think he did anything wrong or just that he thought he could beat enough of the counts that anything he was guilty for would would result in less then 600 hours of community service? Seems like he could knock that out over the course of a year.
I haven’t followed the case (and really haven’t thought about since it first happened). I’m guessing they tried to prove that he was just a pervert who liked recording his roommate having sex…oh and he happened to be gay as opposed to “my roommate is gay so lets all make fun of him”
Ha. No, they evidently said he was worried the roommate’s hookup was going to rob him and webcammed it for safety. It sounds like an idiotic defense, but I guess they didn’t have a lot of other options - because wow, that was a very kind plea deal.
But wasn’t he broadcasting this on the internet (IIRC)? Was was his reasoning for that?
I’m both delighted and horrified by this decision.
The idea being that he could watch while he wasn’t in the room. Like I said, it was a bad defense and he should’ve copped a plea. Considering all the outrage surrounding this case - which is what got Ravi convicted - it’s sort of amazing that he got a lenient plea offer and dumbfounding that he said no. I haven’t followed the case in very much depth, but I also think it’s interesting that even though Ravi really did not cause Clementi’s death and was probably not committing what you might normally think of as a hate crime, the jury pretty much had to convict him according to the laws. He also fucked it up further by being a really unsympathetic defendant and by trying to cover it all up by talking to a witness and altering his Twitter feed. But I also don’t think he deserves 10 years in jail and deportation over it.
The deportation wouldn’t bother me. 10 years in prison for what would otherwise be treated as civil offenses does bother me.
No. He tweeted a couple of people that he had done it, but the video was not recorded or uploaded anywhere.
I followed this case a bit when it first made the news, but then forgot about it. I wasn’t aware he was offered such a good plea deal, but since he was and turned it down, I have decided he is a complete moron who deserves the full brunt of the sentence. I had been thinking it was possibly a bit harsh, but wow. He must have no remorse and really think he was right to turn down that plea, so I’m happy with the verdict.
I think his problem was on the second occasion. The first time he merely showed the stream to friends but the second time he sent out a message ahead of time to his friends to access his webcam (which he had remotely rigged to accept) so that they could watch.
That said, I don’t think it was a hate crime. I personally think that he was a typical teenager who found it salacious that his rommate was having sex and decided to spy on him also with some friends.
What is a shame is that he apparently was quite intelligent and had good computer skills and could potentially be a productive member of society. I had thought that the plea bargain he was offered did not protect him from deportation which is why he turned it down.
Eh. You can be remorseful and still think you’re not guilty of what you’re being charged with. It’s hard to get a read on the guy’s feelings, and they’re not really the point.
I don’t understand the hate crime angle of this at all or what it had to do with sexual orientation. He didn’t try to blackmail his roommate or intimidate him in any way. It’s a clear case of invading his privacy and that is what the conviction should involve. I haven’t followed the actual trial so there may be more to this than the article I read but there is no deliberate attempt to coerce the roommate into killing himself.
His defense was a total load of crap. You see, Dharun was too young to know how to handle having a gay roommate, so he acted immaturely. Yup, he’s so dumb he ended up at Rutgers. He was only trying to monitor his possessions because his roommate’s guest looked “scruffy and homeless”. Which might be the case if you pointed the camera on YOUR side of the room, not his. I’m also sure his nonchalant attitude during the proceedings did not escape the jury either. While he wasn’t being charged in any way with Tyler’s death, it probably would have been appropriate to act at least vaguely concerned.
Between the weak defense and the poor appearance in court, he got what he deserved. Yes, I would be a terrible lawyer.
He wasn’t charged with causing Clementi’s death, deliberately or not.
About what I’ve read so far.
Still no explanation of why it’s a hate crime or that his roommate was targeted because he was gay. They should have thrown the book at him to the extend he invaded his roommate’s privacy but I haven’t seen the connection to a hate crime.
I’ve been keeping up with Slate.com’s recent coverage of this. The decision the jury had to make was a terrible one. On one hand, not convicting him would let people think that intimidating gays, when they are already tormented by their peers often to the point of suicide, is ok. On the other hand, it seems like without Clementi’s suicide, this would just have been a prank and earned no more than a reprimand. I am not now as bloodthirsty in calling for Ravi’s punishment as I was before the trial, having learned more of the situation. But the jury essentially had to decide either that it was ok to intimidate gays or not, and so they made their choice. I know that I could not have easily decided.
I wish, in cases like this, the defendants are more willing to testify on their own behalf. Yes, the same Slate.com coverage mentioned this and how usually that’s a terrible idea, subjecting the defendant to a cross that would make them justify all their worst mistakes. But in this case, I think we needed to hear some remorse, some repentance from Ravi’s own mouth. The fact that he apparently lied and acted like an uncaring twit did not help him at all, nor did turning down that incredible no-jail deal.