A New Jersey appeals court overturned Dharun Ravi‘s conviction on charges related to his webcam spying on his roommate, former Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide shortly thereafter.
Related: Monica Lewinsky Says Suicide Of Tyler Clementi Prompted Her To Break Her Decade-Long Silence
Ravi was convicted in 2012 on 15 charges, including counts of bias intimidation, a portion of which the state Supreme Court has since invalidated, ruling that it was “constitutionally vague.”
The three judge panel ruled that his prosecution on these charges “tainted the jury’s verdict on the remaining charges,” determining that he therefore did not receive a fair trial, The New York Times reports. They have ordered a new trial on the charges not related to bias intimidation, such as invasion of privacy and tampering with evidence.
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The Times notes that the state’s bias crime law differed from that of many other states, writing, “It said defendants could be convicted if their victims ‘reasonably believed’ that they were harassed or intimidated because of a characteristic such as race or sexual orientation.”
Related: First Openly Gay Man To Climb Mount Everest Did It For At-Risk LGBTQ Youth
Last year, the state Supreme Court ruled that it was the defendant’s intent that mattered, not the victim’s perception of events.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s office now has to decide if it will appeal to the state Supreme Court, retry Ravi, or drop the case entirely.
Ravi originally faced up to 10 years in prison, but was sentenced to 30 days, three years probation, 300 hours of community service and to pay $10,000 to a program to help victims of hate crimes. He served 20 days of the 30 day prison sentence.
The appellate court condemned Ravi’s actions, even while overturning the conviction, with Judge Jose Fuentes writing for the court, “The social environment that transformed a private act of sexual intimacy into a grotesque voyeuristic spectacle must be unequivocally condemned in the strongest possible way.”
Related: Play Inspired By Tyler Clementi Debuts In Chicago (Photos)
Clementi’s parents, Joe and Jane Clementi, wrote a reaction to the decision, posted to the Tyler Clementi Foundation’s website:
Joe and I are not legal experts so we cannot interpret the law. All we can do is try to understand and deal with are the facts as we know them now.
We know that Tyler’s private moments were stolen from him and used to humiliate him. His life was forever affected and the lives of those who knew and loved him have been forever changed.
In light of today’s decision, we will do what we encourage all people to do before they push that send button, and that is to pause and consider the implications of their message. Does it encourage and build someone up or does it destroy and harm another person?
Our world moves very fast which pushes us to be impulsively spontaneous and sometimes harsh.
Today’s decision shows us how much more work there is to be done, and will push us forward with stronger determination to create a kinder more empathic society where every person is valued and respected. We will continue to work even harder sharing Tyler’s story through the Tyler Clementi Foundation and our many partners
Me2
You can’t legislate kindness. What Ravi did was absolutely HORRIBLE but it wasn’t criminal.
ErikO
Is Molly Wei also going to get any of her convictions overturned?
Masc Pride
Ravi is guilty of harassment and being mean. Lots of people do mean things to others every day. Ravi’s target just happened to commit suicide, which wasn’t his fault. He’s paid his debt to society, and seems to have learned a really harsh lesson. It needs to rest now.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
“Does it encourage and build someone up or does it destroy and harm another person?”
They more than anyone else can be forgiven for not seeing the dangerous implications inherent in such well-meaning idealistic statements.
DCguy
@Masc Pride:
No he is guilty of invasion of privacy. If he had filmed and broadcast a female roommate people would not be trying to excuse this.
Sluggo2007
His actions caused Tyler Clementi to commit suicide. It’s an evil, evil thing he did.
rtripboy
@Masc Pride:
It was at rest until MR RAVI re-opened it by asking his convection be overturned. If he had just let his slap on the wrist be it would be at rest. But, he didn’t. He asked to have his convection overturned. I hope he gets a real punishment this time.
Kieran
In Dharun’s culture queers are burned on a pyre. We have to respect multiculturalism.
Kieran
@abnerbha If Hinduism were neutral on homosexuality you’d have a huge, thriving gay community throughout India. Sadly, that is far from the case.
MacAdvisor
@ErikO:
ErikO, while Ms. Wei was indicted, she was never prosecuted. Wei entered into a plea agreement allowing her to avoid prosecution in exchange for her testimony against Ravi. She also had to perform 300 hours of community service, as well as attended counseling and classes on dealing with people of alternative lifestyles. Thus, in her case, there isn’t a case to overturn.
Additionally, she was not charged with the law that was overturned.
So, no, her case will not be overturned.
Masc Pride
@DCguy: Yes, that’s what I meant by harassment. Women aren’t automatically more likely to get justice though. You sound like Brian/Jim Bryant now. Did you totally miss the Brock Turner fiasco? On the contrary, justice has been pretty much served in this case.
Bauhaus
@abnerbha:
Electroshock is wearing off. Get a tune up. STAT. Also, easy on the drugs, they’re taking a toll.
Kangol
@Kieran: It was British Colonialism that led to legal sanctions against same-sexual behavior. Hinduism is actually neutral on the question of same-sexual desire.
Every country where British colonialism existed has criminalized or penalized male homosexuality. Outside of many predominantly Muslim countries (not counting Indonesia, Iraq (before Saddam’s ouster), Jordan, or Turkey), nearly all the most virulently homophobic countries are former British colonies.
(Also, early Iraqi, Persian and Urdu poetry includes same-sexual texts, while Medieval Sufi poetry includes many examples of genderless or implicitly male beloved targets. Extreme Salafist Islam has no space for this tradition at all.)
abnerbha
@Kangol: @Bauhaus: Think both of you have a bad memory as people who know my posts on Internet know that I am straight. Homosexuals often have dementia from AIDS & bad memories. I don’t know what dementia means as English wasn’t my first language but think it means bad mind. Many straight men think way that I do, so unless you have dementia, you wouldn’t be shocked.
abnerbha
@Kieran: @Bauhaus: It’s possible homosexuality could be result of birth defect, but there are more than 1 reason why a conduct happens. Some people get emphysema because they have bad genes and some people get emphysema because they smoke tobacco. Not all smokers get emphysema, but if you smoke, you raise your risks of emphysema. Same thing with homosexuality and lesbianism-if it’s true there’s a birth defect, then some people do gay and lesbian activities due to this birth defect and some people do gay/lesbian conduct because of reacting to childhood sex abuse. Any conduct, including sexual conduct can be learned.