Conviction Overturned In Case Of Rutgers Student Whose Roommate Committed Suicide After Being Secretly Filmed
from the good-to-see dept
Four and a half years ago, we wrote about our serious concerns about the conviction of Dharun Ravi, a Rutgers student who surreptitiously filmed his roommate engaged in a sexual encounter. The roommate, Tyler Clementi, later killed himself, after finding out that he had been filmed. That part was a big story, and kicked off a variety of discussions, some of which were more reasonable than others. But as we noted back then, what was most troubling about the legal case and conviction of Ravi was that he was really being prosecuted for what Clementi did, rather than what Ravi did.As we noted, Ravi filming Clementi was definitely creepy, immature and dumb. But criminal? If Ravi had just filmed Clementi and nothing happened, there never would have been a prosecution. Ravi was really being prosecuted because Clementi killed himself -- and that's problematic. As we've explained a few times, while there's an obvious emotional reaction to someone killing themselves, no one fully knows why they did it other than the individuals themselves. And, blaming others for mean things they may have done after someone commits suicide is a really dangerous place to go. It actually encourages suicide by letting people think that killing themselves will "punish" those who are tormenting them. But the biggest thing is that we shouldn't blame one person based on the actions of another.
It only took four and a half years, but Ravi's conviction has now been overturned by an appeals court. You can read the full opinion here.
After Ravi's conviction in 2012, the state Supreme Court in a separate case struck down part of the state's bias crime statute that focused on the victim's state of mind. According to that case, it is the defendant's state of mind and intent that is important, not the victim's.Of course, this isn't over yet. The court ordered a new trial, claiming that the original one was biased -- and there's still a chance that prosecutors may appeal this ruling to the New Jersey Supreme Court.
The appellate court said the prosecution conceded in its oral arguments four of Ravi's bias convictions should "be void as a matter of law," and, accordingly, dismissed those charges with prejudice. The court also dismissed Ravi's conviction on hindering his own apprehension and tampering with witnesses.
As for the reasoning of the court, it pointed out that prosecutors basically focused on Clementi's actions, rather than the defendant's (Ravi's), and presented an unfair and biased picture to the jury:
After carefully reviewing the record developed at trial, it is clear that the evidence the State presented to prove the bias intimidation charges under N.J.S.A. 2C:16-1(a)(3) permeated the entire case against defendant, rendering any attempt to salvage the convictions under the remaining charges futile. The State used evidence revealing the victim's reserved demeanor and expressions of shame and humiliation as a counterweight to defendant's cavalier indifference and unabashed insensitivity to his roommate's right to privacy and dignity. The prosecutor aggressively pressed this point to the jury in her eloquent closing argument.In other words, exactly as we've talked about for years: when you go after someone because someone else committed suicide, the emotional aspects of the case are likely to completely steamroll the legal issues. Thankfully, the court has finally recognized that, even if only four years too late.
It is unreasonable to expect a rational juror to remain unaffected by this evidence. In light of the Court's ruling in Pomianek, admission of T.C.'s state of mind evidence constituted an error "of such a nature to have been clearly capable of producing an unjust result."
None of that is to suggest that what Ravi did was right, or that Clementi's suicide wasn't tragic. Ravi did something really stupid and immature. But stupid and immature doesn't mean criminal. Hopefully the prosecutors just decide to cut their losses and drop the case altogether.
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Filed Under: dharun ravi, privacy, suicide, tyler clementi
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...unless, of course, it's Aaron Swartz, in which case it's all the prosecutors' fault for driving him to suicide by doing their job.
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Your larger point, that the consequences of one's actions should matter, is well-taken, though.
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On the other hand, IMO the abuse of a position of power over someone to intimidate or harass is is good step towards crossing that line - especially by agents of the Government...
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Which is they've all been tried and convicted of murder. Oh, wait...
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My take on Aaron Swartz
...efforts that have yet failed to bear fruit, and aside from the fact that the CFAA and Espionage laws are really only used to prosecute and nail whistleblowers and other undesirables by the current administration (whoever the current admin is).
Dead bodies are always accellerant for the fires of activism and even revolution, as demonstrated by the Boston Massacre.
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Nope. FWIW we've always avoided making any such claim. I know others (including his girlfriend) have argued that the DOJ drove him to suicide, but you will not find a story on our site suggesting that is the case -- for exactly the reasons discussed above. I don't know why he killed himself, but I will not pin it on the DOJ.
I will pin lots of other bad behavior in his case on the DOJ -- but not the suicide.
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Re: Swartz V Ravi
The prosecutor wasn't doing her job, she was throwing the book at Swartz for a non-crime. These people can ruin your life if they want to and you'll never understand that till they're all over you like a rash. And you're not immune, you just haven't fallen foul of them yet. I hope you never do.
In any case, Ravi's situation is completely different, even from a purely moral standpoint (I'm not a lawyer); he intentionally set out to embarrass that lad. Swartz only shared information in an unauthorised way; the information itself was not restricted. Apples and spanners, my friend.
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One would hope that it is actually criminal to record & broadcast people from the privacy of their own room.
One would hope that lying to authorities about having done it & shared it widely would be seen as actually criminal.
One would hope that trying to get people to lie to the authorities to hide your actions would be criminal.
Holding Ravi responsible for the suicide, is only a little to far. But one would have a really hard time making the case that if not for Ravis repeated criminal acts, the outcome would have been the same. Tyler could have been depressed or had other issues, but pretending that what Ravi did can't be seen as contributing to the act is impossible for a reasonable person.
Ravi didn't make the final decision for Tyler, but he set into motion a series of events. Had he not broken the law, it is possible this never would have happened. It would be nice for the law to look at the situation and decide that secretly filming others in their private moments is a crime. That making those secret tapes to entertain others is a crime. That lying to authorities about all of these things is a crime.
Ravi is an asshole. Ravi broke the law. Ravi isn't directly responsible for Tylers death... but he sure helped.
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Ravi should be charged on invasion of privacy laws and the evidence surrounding them and nothing more. The suicide is completely irrelevant unless there is evidence that Ravi told Tyler to kill himself.
What if I tell someone that i did not like their hair style after they asked and then went and killed themselves? Did I just help them commit suicide? People just need to get over themselves and realize that some people will like you and others will hate you. And most simply do not give a flying fuck.
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There is any number of actions a person could have taken after being filmed and the person doing the filming, while a huge creep, didn't know suicide was going to be the end result. Throw his butt in jail for laws that cover the filming aspect. Really, there's so many laws, you can throw anyone in jail for something.
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Did ya know some kids still get disowned & thrown out on the streets?
Did ya know some kids get beaten to be straight?
Did ya know that it's not illegal in all states to commit your child to a facility where they employee junk science & abuse to convert them?
Did ya know all the gays don't know each other and build instant support groups when we get within 10 ft of each other?
Did you know that having some of your first sexual experiences shared with a group of strangers by an asshole might cause you some distress?
Did you know that having your personal life widely exposed in this way might lead to anger but not to beating the crap out of the asshole who deserves it?
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It was a same-sex relationship. There's a large part of the US in 2010 where this could get you disowned by your family. And it wasn't just that Ravi recorded it. He was posting it on social media and inviting all to see it.
> Throw his butt in jail for laws that cover the filming aspect.
And that's what they did. Ravi was tried and convicted for invasion of privacy, attempted invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, tampering with evidence, witness tampering, and hindering apprehension or prosecution. He was not charged with a role in the suicide itself.
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He lied to the authorities.
He tampered with witnesses.
He tried to coverup what he had done.
Seems like there are a whole bunch of crimes there beyond invasion of privacy that should be pursued.
I didn't suggest he is responsible for the suicide, but from the moral standpoint its clear he played a big role.
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So did that girl that turned him down for a date. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. She should be prosecuted too!
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Re: That Anonymous Coward
This week, after I was yet again attacked over the abuse and decimation of my life since I stood up against online humiliation (and won the latest court battle, albeit a minor court victory until after the appeal is handed down) my photo was in the local newspaper as well as online.
The next day I was abused and accused of being ridiculous, an extortionist and whatever has been written online since I won on liability against Google. This happened in the local shopping centre. I thought of slitting my wrists, I really did.
The abuse was vicious, cruel and and it scared me. Abuse is wrong in any context, don't you agree, That Anonymous Coward? But I didn't try to kill myself last Saturday. I sobbed in the rest room for half an hour and then I walked into the nearest hairdresser and asked for my hair to be cut off off. At least then, I thought, I could look after my 94 year old father without being harassed every time the media published something about my case about Google (because i am not capitulating)!.
Fighting for my rights has nearly broken me. But I did not commit suicide. Oh, i have thought about it many times during this long battle and you, That Anonymous Coward, must be proud to cause such grief and distress to one person.I'm thinking the word
starts with the letter W. Oh, maybe it is just an Aussie thing but mate, we have the prefect saying to describe you: Lower than a snake's asshole. ass hole! You hide behind anonymity and that trash those who are upfront...that is sooo 80s.
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Such prolific bullshit!
No actually a rational juror WOULD remain unaffected by the evidence. But we rarely have a rational jury on hand now do we?
I would have remained unaffected. It is terrible when people kill themselves, but its fucking bullshit to blame a suicide on anyone, unless they are encouraging the suicide.
Most juries do not give a fucking flip about justice and have already been corrupted by the stupid shit the judges and the lawyers say. Court is nothing but a 3 ring circus and rational Jurors are actively avoided during selection. A rational juror is the LAST juror a prosecutor wants sitting in.
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I'm with you, no one pushed the guy to kill himself, he only has himself to blame for being dead.
Man A has sex with another Man B
Man A is ashamed and embarrassed of having sex with another man.
Man A kills himself rather than deal with the results of his own actions.
If the public finding out what you did is so embarrassing you would kill yourself maybe you should not have engaged in that act in the first place.
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Would you be ashamed if everyone saw you with your blowup doll?
He wasn't that embarrassed by dating the other man, they'd gone out a few times, he was embarrassed that some pissant decided to broadcast his private moments and setup a fucking viewing party. We have no record of what was said during the time he was in the room with Tyler, before Tyler left for the final time. People in trouble tend to paint things in the best possible light towards themselves.
It is one thing for people to know he kissed another guy, it is a whole nother for them to have watched what was a private moment and turn it into the gossip of the moment and invite more people to watch the next time.
I'm glad that you can put yourself into the shoes of someone dealing with a society that openly hates them, and have no useful comment beyond saying if he was worried about being happy he shouldn't have done it.
Do the world a favor and expand your worldview. Your life experience isn't everyone elses, and you're a heartless fuck for thinking it should be.
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Actually, it does mean criminal in this case.
See: S. 1301 (108th): Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2004
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Of course it is, you numbskulled fucktarded sack of shit.
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Being unknowingly filmed, especially if shared with others is an emotionally violent crime, even if all you are doing is reading a book. And to film someone during a sexual experience, especially if shared with others, can lead to a lifetime of emotional trauma. Do you all want to feel as if you are "on stage" 24/7? I do hope his sentence isn't commuted. There has to be some place where you feel safe, that place is SUPPOSED to be your home (or dorm room).
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Same issue as Hulk Hogan v. Gawker
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Not really seeing the problem here
Do you really think this is not something that should be against the law? Seriously?
The guy secretly filmed someone having sex and then put it on the web for other people to watch.
If that is not a criminal act that deserves some jail time then it sure should be.
I can see your argument that people should not go to jail for what someone else did (in this case a suicide) but that is not what he was convicted of doing so I do not really see that justice was somehow perverted in this case.
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Re: Not really seeing the problem here
Had they focused more on those bad acts than trying to get "justice" for someone "bullied to suicide" the case would have had a similar outcome. They got the conviction by focusing on the hot button issue rather than actual violations of law.
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Elements of the Case
The case against Ravi is not a valid prima facie case. Murder requires certain elements. One of those is intent. Disregarding the fact that there's also no murder weapon here, there was blatantly obviously also zero intent. The intent was to embarrass the poor guy, not to induce a suicide. (Also, inducing a suicide is not the same thing as intent to kill and does not suffice for intent in a murder charge EVEN IF that had been Ravi's intent.)
So the case had no merit on its face. It was invalid from day one.
I mean, there isn't even enough here for a valid manslaughter charge, much less murder. How the hell this ever got to a jury is beyond me.
I guess this is just what happens when a DA becomes a politician first and a lawyer second. (Hint: a good DA should be the other way around.)
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Re: Elements of the Case
Masnick, you do a good job conditioning your readers.
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