Tyler Clementi committed suicide after exposed as Gay in webcam } The Spy D. Ravi Rejects Plea Deal
BY CHRISTINA BOYLE
Mark R. Sullivan/AP
Former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi, right, and his attorney Steven Altman. Ravi is accused of spying on his gay roommate Tyler Clementi, who killed himself.
The ex-Rutgers University student accused of spying on his gay roommate with a webcam rejected a plea deal from prosecutors Friday.
Dharun Ravi turned down an offer that would have kept him out of jail and attempted to prevent his deportation back to India.
The 19-year-old’s lawyer told a judge his client will go to trial to fight charges he was biased against gay people when he allegedly set up a camera to watch his roommate, Tyler Clementi, kissing and hugging another man in September 2010.
Ravi faces a total of 15 criminal counts, including invasion of privacy and witness and evidence tampering, but has not been charged in connection with Clementi’s death by suicide.
“Simple answer, simple principle,” his lawyer, Steven Altman, said after the court hearing, according to The Associated Press.
“He’s innocent. He’s not guilty. That’s why he rejected the plea.”
The Middlesex County prosecutor’s office offered Ravi no prison time but included community service, probation and counseling as terms of the plea-bargain agreement, the judge said.
The state also agreed to help the young man fight any deportation orders since he is in the U.S. legally but is an Indian citizen.
Ravi now has less than a month to reconsider before jurors and a judge are assigned to the case. The trial is expected to begin Feb. 21 and is scheduled to last three weeks, the judge said.
The tragic case shocked the nation and sparked a widespread debate about bullying and the challenges facing gay youth.
In an exclusive interview with People magazine, Clementi’s parents say their 18-year-old son came out to them just two days before he left to become a freshman at Rutgers University.
He approached his mother “shaking, half crying” and told her: “Mom, I’m gay ... I’m tired of living a lie.”
Clementi told his parents he had been aware of his sexuality since middle school and they told their youngest child they loved him.
“I told him,’ I have an open mind about things,’” dad Joe Clementi said, before adding: “Be careful. Not everyone is going to be so accepting.”
When Clementi’s parents took their son to Rutgers, they met his new roommate, Ravi, who they say “wouldn’t even look at Tyler,” according to People magazine.
Court documents show Ravi had already discovered that his roommate was gay by going online and had written about it on Twitter and discussed it with friends.
Clementi asked if he could have their shared room to himself on Sept. 19 and Ravi set up a webcam so he could see what was happening from his friend Molly Wei’s computer.
The two students saw Clementi kissing another man, according to reports.
Three days later, Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge.
Clementi’s mother, Jane, said she knew nothing about the webcam incident and the last conversation she had with her son — less than 10 hours before his death — ended with their usual sign-off.
“I would say, ‘I love you,’ and he’d say, ‘I love you more.’ And then I’d say, “No, I love you more,” she told the magazine.
With News Wire Services
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