# Secretly recording the gay roommate - an update - Guilty verdict **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988 "2012-03-16T18:13:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/81 "2012-03-19T05:05:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > We also tend to laugh at the Three Stooges or when people hurt themselves on America’s Funniest Home Videos. What’s your point? Well there is a “rape”(its ambiguous) in the black comedy Observe And Report and people sure complained about that being offensive and not an area they wanted to see mined for humor. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/82 "2012-03-19T06:49:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I just read the article, which you can find [here](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/02/06/120206fa_fact_parker?printable=true). It really is very judicious and thoughtful. A third (or however many-eth) recommendation for that article. It’s incredibly in depth, does not attempt to portray Ravi as evil or a victimizer, portrays both guys as immature and awkward (hardly surprising for two 18 year olds), and adds a lot more insight onto the case. Warning: Not suitable for anybody who has ever posted TLDR. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/83 "2012-03-19T12:30:19Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Well there is a “rape”(its ambiguous) in the black comedy Observe And Report and people sure complained about that being offensive and not an area they wanted to see mined for humor. I’m pretty sure the joke is that the main character sees his ladyfriend passed out, actually stops because he isn’t a rapist, and then she wakes up and yells at him, “Don’t stop, motherfucker!” Anyone worrying about that scene using rape for comedy didn’t actually watch it. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/84 "2012-03-23T20:22:52Z")
Well looks like I was wrong. Apparently, [speaking out](http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/03/23/dharun_ravi_gives_interviews_and_looks_totally_unsympathetic.html?wpisrc=slate_river) about the trial would have done Ravi no good as he’s kind of an unsympathetic dick. He’d make a great politician :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/85 "2012-03-23T20:28:45Z")
He’s a poster child for not knowing when to shut up. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/86 "2012-03-23T21:15:11Z")
What a douche. I’m still not convinced that this was a hate or bias crime, and i think his potential punishment is too harsh, but every time i read something about him i feel less and less sympathy for him. Are judges, like juries, supposed to avoid media stories about the trials that they are overseeing? Because Ravi better hope that the judge doesn’t see these interviews before sentencing. ---
**Author:** ![NJ\_Kef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/258eb7/32.png) [@NJ\_Kef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJ_Kef)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/87 "2012-03-23T22:18:56Z")
We all know that the voyeurs only watched a few minutes of two shirtless men kissing. But what did Clementi know? If I were in his situation, I would have assumed the very worst, that ANY number of people witnessed EVERYTHING that transpired in that room, and that the video would be posted on the internet for the entire world to see forever and ever. That’s what I would have assumed. I don’t think Ravi was sending a message of intimidation to other gays, so for that reason I don’t consider what he did a hate crime. But it comes damn close! And I have no problem with those charges being applied. Ravi had his day in court. I find it ironic that his sense of integrity prevented him from taking the plea bargain. Where was his integrity when he videoed his roommate, bragged about, invited others to watch, and then tried to cover his tracks? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/88 "2012-03-23T22:26:49Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He’s a poster child for not knowing when to shut up. He is all of 20 and seems pretty immature for the age which isn’t exactly rare, dig up some writng you did at 20 and have a good laugh at how ridiculous it is. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/89 "2012-03-24T01:19:22Z")
Am I the only one who feels like tampering with evidence and witnesses ALONE should be worth 10 years in prison, if not more, regardless of whatever the original crime was? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/90 "2012-03-24T08:21:28Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Ravi almost certainly didn’t intend to force Clementi into suicide. However, Ravi DID intend to humiliate and shame Clementi, for whatever reasons. Lynn, I’m pretty sure the drunk driver who hit my 90-year-old uncle & aunt-in-law on Christmas Day didn’t intend to put them in the hospital for 6 months or so, and cause permanent injury to them. But that’s what happened, all because of his actions. So I’m glad that he will be severely punished for that. And I think Ravi deserves the same kind of punishment, for the actual consequences of his actions, regardless of what he ‘intended’. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/91 "2012-03-24T13:06:58Z")
Wait, so you think Ravi should be punished as if he had killed Clementi with his own hands? I don’t consider that justice. You have an intervening, voluntary act here (suicide). That’s not Ravi’s criminal liability. That being said, I’m not uncomfortable with a five-year sentence, given that he’s unlikely to serve all of it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/92 "2012-03-24T14:13:50Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Am I the only one who feels like tampering with evidence and witnesses ALONE should be worth 10 years in prison, if not more, regardless of whatever the original crime was? 10 years, no, but it does merit some prison time. The justice system can’t work if such offences aren’t heavily punished. And I don’t think his age excuses his behaviour, either. Mitigates it somewhat, as in I’d expect more of someone of thirty, but nah - I don’t think most people of any age would do the sort of thing he did _and_ then tamper with the evidence _and_ then act like the victim. Being young does mean being an arsehole. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/93 "2012-03-24T15:17:01Z")
> [@NJ\_Kef](#): > > I don’t think Ravi was sending a message of intimidation to other gays, so for that reason I don’t consider what he did a hate crime. But it comes damn close! And I have no problem with those charges being applied. Ravi had his day in court. It’s my understanding that the bias intimidation charge doesn’t require Ravi to have intended to make Clementi the target of a crime (in this case invasion of privacy) for being gay, only that his behavior was such that Clementi would have reasonably believed he was being targeted for a crime because he was gay. So I’d say what Ravi did wasn’t just damn close to bias intimidation, it actually was bias intimidation. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/94 "2012-03-25T01:07:54Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > It’s my understanding that the bias intimidation charge doesn’t require Ravi to have intended to make Clementi the target of a crime (in this case invasion of privacy) for being gay, only that his behavior was such that Clementi would have reasonably believed he was being targeted for a crime because he was gay. So I’d say what Ravi did wasn’t just damn close to bias intimidation, it actually was bias intimidation. Laws are commonly written that way, because it’s really hard to prove in court the _intent_ that was inside someone’s mind. Better to outlaw certain specific, observable behavior. Besides, to the victim, it hurts just as bad. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/95 "2012-05-21T16:48:24Z")
UPDATE: He’s been sentenced. 30 days in jail. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/96 "2012-05-21T16:54:33Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > UPDATE: He’s been sentenced. > > 30 days in jail. Sanity prevailed. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/97 "2012-05-21T18:42:17Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > A third (or however many-eth) recommendation for that article. It’s incredibly in depth, does not attempt to portray Ravi as evil or a victimizer, portrays both guys as immature and awkward (hardly surprising for two 18 year olds), and adds a lot more insight onto the case. > > Warning: Not suitable for anybody who has ever posted TLDR. I read (most of) this. Yes, Ravi seems like a jerk who did jerky stuff much like the kinds of jerks there were when I went to school. Then he tried to cover it all up. Other than the new-fangled equipment it sounds like a lot of stories from my college dorm. What I don’t get from the article is any information on the other guy. Here was a 25 year old, hooking up with a teenager who commits suicide the next day and nobody is asking if he had something to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/98 "2012-05-21T18:47:26Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > What I don’t get from the article is any information on the other guy. Here was a 25 year old, hooking up with a teenager who commits suicide the next day and nobody is asking if he had something to do with it? Or, it was one adult hooking up with another adult. No-one is arguing that Clementi had help with his suicide. There is, as far as i know, no evidence that “the other guy” broke any laws. What do you want to know about him, or from him? Seems pretty irrelevant to me. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/99 "2012-05-21T19:23:20Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Or, it was one adult hooking up with another adult. > > No-one is arguing that Clementi had help with his suicide. There is, as far as i know, no evidence that “the other guy” broke any laws. > > What do you want to know about him, or from him? Seems pretty irrelevant to me. First I want to know why a 25 year old is hooking up with a teenager in the dorm room and nobody but me thinks that is out of the ordinary. Secondly I want to know why, when that teen commits suicide, it isn’t worth bothering that adult with questions. Plenty are arguing that Clementi committed suicide because of Ravi. If Clementi was my child my first question would not be who was bullying to my son, it would be who was the mystery man he had a sexual relationship with. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988/100 "2012-05-21T19:32:09Z")
Dharun is a repugnant person. He reeks of being the popular preppy kid in school who made friends easily and thrived on belittling others. Thirty days in prison isn’t easy, but I fully believe he should’ve gotten a few years, given that Clementi committed suicide because of him (yes, I know there’s no provable connection, but I’m calling a spade a spade here). Clementi had only just started college, and only three weeks into it he was permanently labeled because of the thoughtless and bigoted actions of his roommate. In the [New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/nyregion/rutgers-spying-defendant-sentenced-to-30-days-in-jail.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2) article about the scentencing, the judge made note of how Dharun showed no remorse throughout the entire process. His mother requested light sentencing because is life is just _soooooo_ hard now. He’s had to take online classes because of this. Online classes! I hope Dharun learns a few hard lessons in the slammer. If he had a tough time dealing with a gay roommate before, then it’s probably going to be 30 long, sleepless nights for him. Little punk. _spit_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secretly-recording-the-gay-roommate-an-update-guilty-verdict/615988.md?page=6)