<p>“The cover up turned out to be worse than the crime.”</p>
<p>How many times have we all told this to our 5-yr olds? :)</p>
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<p>I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say “rampant hate crime,” but “pranking?” Absolutely not. </p>
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<p>I agree.</p>
<p>It is always the cover that gets them. Just ask Richard Nixon!</p>
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<p>According to this [Live</a> coverage: Dharun Ravi found guilty on most counts in webcam spying trial verdict | NJ.com](<a href=“http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/ravi_webcam_trial_verdict.html]Live”>Live coverage: Dharun Ravi found guilty on most counts in webcam spying trial verdict - nj.com) ,
the witness tampering was
Which might be subornation of perjury.</p>
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<p>How would you like Rutgers to address this? Consenting adults, end of story. Are there any schools which regulate who comes and goes from their dorms? I know some have signing in policies or length of stay rules, but where would Tyler not have been permitted to have a 30 year old friend visit at 9pm for a few hours?</p>
<p>That would be “friend”</p>
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<p>Or Martha Stewart, for that matter.</p>
<p>Re the issue of attorney competence:</p>
<p>A lawyer can only work with the case & client he has. It sounds to me like Ravi was offered a very strong plea deal based on the overall circumstances. Those offers don’t come out of the blue because of kind-hearted prosecutors – they are the product of long & hard back-door lobbying and persistence from defense attorneys. I mean, 90% of good lawyering is in the negotiating skills that keep cases from actually going to trail. </p>
<p>Now maybe the attorney hoped for an offer even better than the one he got, but that’s beside the point. My guess is that the attorney advised the client to take the offer – the client turned it down – and then the lawyer was faced with going to trial and doing the best he could with the evidence an testimony presented. If he didn’t present Ravi’s personal friends as witnesses … its most likely because his client really had no friends willing to step up, or the friends that he did have would not have been good witnesses, for whatever reasons. (A good lawyer would have interviewed all potential defense witnesses and done basic background checks). It is very likely that the young man showed a different side of his personality to peers than he did to his parents & their friends.</p>
<p>As to grounds for appeal: they’ve already said they are going to be challenging the validity of the bias statute, probably on a variety of grounds. I took issue with the broad claims about the statute reported in a news article, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t arguable assertions that can be made about the statutory language, or the instructions that were given to the jury under the statute. The defense probably will also claim that it was prejudicial for the jury to be informed about the suicide --(I think not, because it is part of the res gesta – but that still is an issue that can be raised and considered on appeal).</p>
<p>Anyone else think Molly Wei forwent morals to save her hide? I have absolutely no respect for her. Wish she could serve some time.</p>
<p>Seinfeld foreshadowed this in last episode. Now just being a jerk in America can be criminal behavior. Dangerous slope.</p>
<p>@barrons There’s a difference between being a jerk and setting up a webcam to film someone’s private sensual interactions with another person, especially if A) advertising to others that it is occurring and B) inviting said others to join in on watching.</p>
<p>Major invasion of privacy, not just being a jerk. Definitely criminal. Remember Erin Andrews?</p>
<p>"As to grounds for appeal: they’ve already said they are going to be challenging the validity of the bias statute, probably on a variety of grounds. I took issue with the broad claims about the statute reported in a news article, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t arguable assertions that can be made about the statutory language, or the instructions that were given to the jury under the statute. "</p>
<p>Under such circumstances, what would happen to the multiple witness tampering and related convictions?</p>
<p>This case is kind of a cross between Erin Andrews and Megan Meier.</p>
<p>Erin Andrews is the ESPN sportscaster, who had the peeping tom that made videos of her and widely distributed them on the internet. He got 2.5 years in jail</p>
<p>Megan Meier was the 13-year old who was literally driven to suicide, told that the world would be better without her, by a 43-year old woman, Lori Drew, who actually got away with no punishment. (the fake Myspace account) Megan hung herself.</p>
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Which morals? Stop snitchin’?</p>
<p>Refusing to be tampered with as a witness?</p>
<p>Or the fact that it was HER computer and HER webcam and she knew EXACTLY what was going on, yet agreed to testify against her friend so that she’d get off easily. Personally I think she deserves a much harsher punishment. Unfortunately, by testifying against a kid she’d known for years and with whom she’d participated in the crime, she was able to avoid that.</p>
<p>I’d like to say that I think some people posting here don’t understand how much Tyler Clementi’s sexual orientation made this a dire situation. Some people have drawn connections between this incident and a similar incident for a heterosexual person. I think it’s hard to fathom how awful being outed is when you’re not ready, especially when you’re outside of your comfort zone for your first time. I imagine Ravi was well aware of this impact. </p>
<p>Just my two cents – carry on.</p>
<p>^ I think it is criminal no matter the sexual orientation.</p>
<p>“I think it’s hard to fathom how awful being outed is when you’re not ready, especially when you’re outside of your comfort zone for your first time. I imagine Ravi was well aware of this impact.”</p>
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<p>Not arguing the wrongness of the actions, but Clementi was not ‘outed’ - he was already ‘out’, had told parents, had been to LGBT meeting on campus, etc. And made online comments that he felt out if only he had someone to come out to.</p>