This may change the minds of some of you who jumped (no pun intended) off the Conclusion Bridge ... but it probably won't:

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharun_Ravi

Suicide of Tyler Clementi


Tyler Clementi


Dharun Ravi

Tyler Clementi was an eighteen-year-old student at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010. His roommate, Dharun Ravi, and a fellow hallmate, Molly Wei, used iChat between a webcam on Ravi's computer and a computer in Wei's dorm room to view, without Clementi's knowledge, Clementi kissing another man[2]. Ravi later attempted to view Clementi's sexual encounters a second time and drew attention to the event by making Twitter postings to friends.[3][4] Ravi, who faced 15 charges, including invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, witness tampering, and evidence tampering, was found guilty of several counts, including bias intimidation, in March 2012. Wei was not charged, in exchange for testifying against Ravi.[2][5]

Background and incident

Clementi was born in Buffalo, New York, and raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey. A graduate of Ridgewood High School, he was a talented violinist; he played with the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra and participated in the Bergen Youth Orchestra as concertmaster.[6] Ravi and Wei both graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North; Ravi lived in Plainsboro, New Jersey and Wei in Princeton, New Jersey.[7]

A few days before leaving home to attend college at Rutgers, Clementi told his parents that he was gay.[5] While his father supported him, Clementi said in an instant message to a friend that his mother had "basically completely rejected" him.[5][8] In later interviews, Clementi's mother explained that she had been deeply disappointed to realize that he would not marry a woman and have children, as well as by his not having told her earlier that he was gay, and that she had been taken aback by his expressions of sadness over his perception that he had difficulty making friends and over his uncertainty about religion, all of which caused her to be quiet, but that she had been very close to him over the following days.[8][2]

Prior to arriving at Rutgers, Ravi tried to find information about his roommate online. He commented to friends that Clementi appeared to be gay, socially inept, and poor.[2] After Ravi and Clementi moved in together, they rarely interacted or spoke, and Ravi's text messages with friends described Clementi as shy and awkward, while Clementi's online conversations and text messages described his discomfort with Ravi. The roommates would not see each other for days at a time.[2]

On the nights of September 19 and 21, Clementi texted with Ravi about using their room for the evening. On the first occasion, Ravi met Clementi's male friend, and Clementi said that the two wanted to be alone for the evening. In later text messages with friends, Ravi expressed concern and distrust about the older stranger that Clementi brought into the room. Ravi has stated that he was worried about theft.[2] Ravi said he had left the computer in a state where he could view the webcam due to concerns about the security of his personal property around the "creepy" older man with Clementi.[9] Ravi and Wei viewed the video stream for several seconds, and Ravi posted comments about it on Twitter.[2][9]

Clementi complained to his resident assistant[10] and two other officials that Ravi had videostreamed him kissing another man using a webcam. He wrote in detail on the Just Us Boys message board[11] and Yahoo! message board about complaints he filed through university channels about his roommate. His posts indicated that he did not want to share a room with Ravi. Clementi wrote that he had asked the resident assistant for a new room after having learned about the first incident and then discovering that Ravi invited his Twitter followers to watch a second sexual encounter. "He [the resident assistant] seemed to take it seriously," Clementi wrote in a post about 15 hours before his jump from the George Washington Bridge. He wrote that he also reported the incident to two unnamed "higher-ups."[3] Clementi wrote to a friend online that he was not really bothered by what Ravi had seen in the first, brief viewing - primarily due to its extreme brevity and accidental nature - but found Ravi's intent to view the second rendezvous as "wildly inappropriate".[12]

Clementi's wallet was found on September 22 on the walkway adjacent to the George Washington Bridge's New York-bound lanes after witnesses reported seeing someone on the bridge. His car, cell phone, and computer were also found near the bridge. Police recovered a body on September 29 in the Hudson River just north of the bridge. It was confirmed the next day that the body recovered was that of Clementi.[6]

At the approximate time of Clementi reaching the George Washington Bridge, Ravi sent an apology message. The apology message was sent after Ravi realized that Clementi knew of the webcam viewing and after the resident advisor confronted Ravi about Clementi's written complaint, which requested a room change.[2] In his final message to Clementi, Ravi apologized for his role in the incident:

"I've known you were gay and I have no problem with it. In fact one of my closest friends is gay and he and I have a very open relationship. I just suspected you were shy about it which is why I never broached the topic. I don't want your freshman year to be ruined because of a petty misunderstanding, it's adding to my guilt. You have a right to move if you wish but I don't want you to feel pressured to without fully understanding the situation."[2]

Prosecutions

On September 28, 2010, the prosecutor's office stated that Ravi and Wei had been charged with invasion of privacy and transmitting a sexual encounter on the internet in Piscataway committed on September 19. Ravi was also charged on the same counts committed on September 21. Wei had surrendered to Rutgers police in New Brunswick on September 27, and was released the same day on her own recognizance. Ravi surrendered to Rutgers police on September 28 and was released on a $25,000 bail.[13] Prosecutors added bias intimidation to Ravi's charges, which could double the amount of potential prison time served by Ravi to 10 years.[5]

On October 4, the prosecutor in the case, Bruce Kaplan, stated that he did not think there would be enough evidence to charge Ravi and Wei with a hate crime.[14] On October 5, Wei's attorneys, Rubin Sinins and Eric Kahn, released a statement stating her innocence.[15] The former New Jersey federal prosecutor, Henry Klingeman, commented, "There’s no evidence of Ms. Wei doing anything. I'm very curious as to why the prosecutor is holding her responsible in any way, shape, or form simply because Mr. Ravi was using her computer."[14]

On October 31, the legal defense teams released further statements.[16] Steve Altman, Ravi’s attorney, said, "Nothing was transmitted beyond one computer and what was seen was only viewed for a matter of seconds." Rubin Sinins, Wei’s attorney, said, "I’m unaware of any evidence of sexual contact. The statute defining sexual contact refers to nudity and private parts, and, to my knowledge, nothing like that was seen. I’m also unaware of any evidence that any video was recorded, reproduced or disseminated in any way."[17]

On April 20, 2011, a Middlesex County grand jury indicted Ravi on 15 counts, including bias intimidation, invasion of privacy, witness tampering, and evidence tampering.[18] The witness tampering charges are based upon text messages Ravi sent to Wei, trying to get her not to contradict what he had told police.[2]

On May 6, 2011, a judge accepted a plea agreement that would drop the invasion of privacy charges against Wei. The agreement stipulates that Wei testify against Ravi and complete a three-year intervention program, including counseling and community service.[19] Clementi's parents "supported leniency for Wei", believing that her "actions, although unlawful, were substantially different in their nature and their extent than the actions of Tyler's former roommate" and that she "was forthcoming and cooperative during the investigation."[20]

In August 2011, Ravi's defense attorney submitted further documents to the court, and requested a mistrial because the prosecution had failed to present evidence to the grand jury which, he argued, would have cleared Ravi, and had presented other evidence in what he said was a misleading manner.[21][9] These documents showed that Clementi had titled files on his computer "Why does it have to be so painful" and took photographs of the George Washington bridge a month before attending Rutgers.[22]

In December 2011, Ravi rejected a plea agreement in which he would not spend any time in jail and through which the Prosecutor's office would assist him in fighting any potential deportation orders. Ravi is a citizen of India legally living in the United States. In rejecting the plea arrangement, Ravi's lawyer stated: "Simple answer, simple principle...He’s innocent. He’s not guilty. That’s why he rejected the plea."[23]

Guilty verdics and sentencing

On March 16, 2012, Ravi was found guilty of invasion of privacy, hindering apprehension, witness tampering, and one of his five bias charges.[24]

A tentative sentencing date has been set for May 21.[25] As a result of his convictions, Ravi also faces possible deportation to his native India.[26] Ravi plans to appeal his convictions.[27]

Reaction

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network stated, "There has been heightened media attention surrounding the suicides in New Jersey, Texas, California, Indiana, and Minnesota."[28] In the same month, Asher Brown, 13, Billy Lucas, 15, Raymond Chase, 19, and Seth Walsh, 13, committed suicide, in each case after being taunted about their homosexuality,[29] though Chase's brother does not believe the suicide was brought on by bullying.[30]

Writing in The New Yorker, Ian Parker has stated that some of the media coverage and the public outcry against Ravi have exaggerated Ravi's role in the incident, writing that after Clementi's suicide "it became widely understood that a closeted student at Rutgers had committed suicide after video of him having sex with a man was secretly shot and posted online. In fact, there was no posting, no observed sex, and no closet."[2]

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[Click here to read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharun_Ravi ]



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