Posted on 04/20/2011 10:31:12 AM PDT by BradtotheBone
TRENTON, N.J. -- A former Rutgers University freshman was indicted Wednesday on bias intimidation and other charges after allegedly using a webcam to spy on a same-sex encounter involving his roommate, who committed suicide shortly afterward in a case that started a national conversation on bullying.
A 15-count indictment was handed up Wednesday by a Middlesex County grand jury against Dharun Ravi, of Plainsboro, who had already faced invasion of privacy charges along with another student, Molly Wei.
The indictment charges Ravi with bias, invasion of privacy, witness and evidence tampering, and other charges stemming from the suicide of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi in September. The indictment said charges against Wei would not be presented to the grand jury "at this time."
Tyler Clementi's family issued a statement following the indictment, saying it "spells out cold and calculated acts against our son Tyler by his former college roommate."
"If these facts are true, as they appear to be, then it is important for our criminal justice system to establish clear accountability under law. We are eager to have the process move forward for justice in this case and to reinforce the standards of acceptable conduct in our society," the statement said.
Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River shortly after authorities say Ravi and Wei used a webcam to peek at his liaison.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Rutgers is a strange place, didn’t they PAY to have “Snooki” give a speech?? lol.
Only because Charlie Sheen charged much more.
Here comes the Lori Drew defense ...
Seems to me they want to extend thought into more criminal behavior. It's not the world I was born into.
What happened to the 'bullying' narrative? Could it be that only white straight guys bully?
"Bias intimidation" would seem to be an inapt charge. From what I have read about the incident, intimidation of the victim does not appear to have been the motive.
The bias intimidation statute is shown at http://www.nj-statute-info.com/getStatute.php?statute_id=1576. The language is typically dense and legalistic and difficult to parse without constant reference to other statutes, but my reading of the actual wording leads me to believe that there must have been an element of "intimidation" in order for such a charge to be levied.
Perhaps "intimidation" is defined otherwise in some statute, however one dictionary definition of "intimidate" is: to make timid or fearful : frighten; especially : to compel or deter by or as if by threats [tried to intimidate a witness].
Maybe I have missed something - did the accused actually attempt to compel or deter the victim by his actions, or was it instead an attempt to have a cruel joke at the expense of the victim? There is a difference. Hurting someone's feelings by means of a cruel joke is different from intimidating them. Unless there was some other act that allegedly took place that meets the definition of intimidation, it would appear that the prosecutor has made a false charge.
“...sex columnist Dan Savage...”
Puhlease!
Google Dan Savage/Gary Bauer and tell me you want any advice from Mr. Savage.
As a graduate of Rutgers, I can affirm that it is INDEED a strange place.
As a young, innocent, impressionable white guy from the burgs, one of my first experiences at Red Rutgers was being “treated” to a public assembly for all students featuring that arrogant, anti-white, racist clown Amiri Baraka, aka LeRoy Jones. (See: http://www.amiribaraka.com/)
I was forced to sit helplessly among other startled students while this dirtball expounded racist demagogic drivel in the most degrading scatological tones at the audience. It went down from there - being treated to courses delivered by atheists who blantantly attacked Christianity, to lectures from avowed Marxists.
That was many years ago. It has since deteriorated even further. It is a broodery for anti-western, anti-American, anti-Christian ideologues. In America’s culture war, Red Rutgers is, and was, on the wrong side.
Actually, one fun thing was when the hippie crowd tried to churn up anti Gulf War fervor with a "No Blood For Oil" protest march, thinking "we finally get to have our own 1960s style anti war rally!" but nobody showed up.
What about the adult male queer that rimmed this young kid? Why isn’t he to be prosecuted. Imagine being in college and you were forced to room with some mentally deranged deviant who thinks the anus of a same sex old guy is a sex organ fit for rimming. Disgusting doesn’t describe it.
Truth is bullying? Rutgers does not want to recognize that the student who killed himself was ashamed. Rutgers should not encourage actions that make students ashamed.
I think they overplayed their hand with a 15 count indictment. It enters the zone of “hysterical overindictment”, in which a sane jury will discard the whole thing as being beyond the pale.
And the media bandwagon is likewise ludicrous. For example, the New York Daily News put forth an online poll that was just appalling:
“Crime and punishment: Do you think the indictment is too harsh?”
*Yes, Dharun Ravi should be punished, but 5 years in jail is too much.
*No, a family has lost their son because of what Dharun Ravi did.
*I leave it up to a jury to decide.
Notice that nowhere in the poll is the suggestion that Dharun Ravi should walk away from this nonsense a free man, as not responsible for his roommate’s suicide? Real fair, there, NYDN.
I’m surprised they didn’t demand the death penalty.
The bottom line is that the “fragile flower” of a gay guy was willing to have sex in a shared dorm room, indifferent, apparently, as to what his roommate thought about it. He could have had sex elsewhere, with considerably more privacy, but chose to be annoying.
Were I Mr. Dharun Ravi, I think my more than adequate defense would be to claim that the deceased repeatedly sexually harassed him, and made it a point to invite another man to have sex with him as a means of seducing Mr. Ravi. And likely killed himself because of a refusal on the part of Mr. Ravi to have homosexual sex.
Thus, the video recordings were not an invasion of privacy, but collection of evidence of sexual harassment, which Mr. Ravi fully intended to present to school authorities.
If anything, Red Rutgers pushed me even FURTHER to the right.
One of my best friends there was a Monarchist.
No,lady.”Cold and calculating” can be used to refer to 1st Degree murder.Your son chose to take his life;no one murdered him.What a dope.
Life will not get better for homosexuals and lesbians;they are killing themselves with disease.
“The bottom line is that the “fragile flower” of a gay guy was willing to have sex in a shared dorm room, indifferent, apparently, as to what his roommate thought about it. He could have had sex elsewhere, with considerably more privacy, but chose to be annoying.”
This was also 3 weeks into his freshman year...he obviously didn’t attend Rutgers for an education.
Could you imagine getting paired up with a gay guy for dorms? I wouldn’t want to deal with that sh!t in my room with a straight guy & his floozies, never mind 2 guys.
A high school classmate of mine went to a private college, where in the interest of diversity she was deliberately paired with someone from a different race. She balked at that, threatened to leave, and considering the price tag, the school found her a roommate that she would be more comfortable with.
Money talks (like nothing else does).
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