Dharun Ravi, Tyler Clementi Bullying Suspect, Rejects New Plea Deal

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate's intimate encounter with another man chose the gamble of a trial, rejecting a plea deal Friday that would have kept him out of prison and sought to prevent his deportation to India.

Dharun Ravi's reason was simple, said his lawyer, Steven Altman.

"He's innocent. He's not guilty," he said after the court hearing. "That's why he rejected the plea."

Ravi has less than a month to reconsider before summonses are sent to prospective jurors and the judge in the case says he'll close the window of opportunity for a negotiated plea bargain.

With Friday's rejection, it looks more likely that Ravi will stand trial next year. The trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 21 and is expected to take about three weeks, the judge said.

The case sparked a national conversation about bullying of gay youths when the victim, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, committed suicide days after the alleged spying in September 2010.

Like Ravi, he was in his first weeks of his first semester at Rutgers. Court filings of emails, text messages and instant messages show that there was tension between the two students – and that Clementi's sexual orientation was apparently one reason.

Ravi, 19, is not charged in connection with Clementi's death.

He does face 15 criminal counts, including invasion of privacy, witness and evidence tampering and bias intimidation. The latter is a hate crime under New Jersey law and is punishable by up to 10 years in state prison.

In October, Ravi formally rejected a plea bargain that would have come with a recommended sentence of three to five years in prison, but with a chance that the judge could waive any prison time.

Clementi's family issued a statement later in October saying that there should be a full accounting of the events that led to Clementi's death, but that a harsh punishment was not necessary for justice to be done.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman laid out some of the terms of the new offer: Ravi would be put on probation, be required to do 600 hours of community service and receive counseling. Also, the state would help him try to stave off any attempt by the federal government to deport him.

Ravi, who lives in Plainsboro, is in the United States legally but is a citizen of India. Altman said in court that he could face deportation if he's convicted – if the federal government views any offenses as "aggravated."

First Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Julia McClure said any help would go away if he rejects the plea offer.

About 20 people were in the New Brunswick courtroom showing support for Ravi. Clementi's parents also attended but left without commenting.

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Comments

[Sam Damon]

10:58 AM on 12/20/2011

We will never know exactly why that young man took his own life. We can surmise why he killed himself based off circumstances, but that is conjecture. This guy will not be convicted of any serious offense.

[froggyola]

01:48 AM on 12/17/2011

His biggest punishment is that he has to live with himself. The Slime.

[mother10]

11:22 PM on 12/12/2011

My heart just breaks for his mom and dad. She has not changed his bedroom at all...Lord, this is so very sad !

[mother10]

11:20 PM on 12/12/2011

They hate gays in India...they have no rights !

[mother10]

11:19 PM on 12/12/2011

This is bringing out hatte in me that I didn't know I even had ! sheesh...J E R K

[mother10]

11:14 PM on 12/12/2011

this worm knew what he was doing ! People wake up, he was going to display Tyler's life online for the World to make fun of ! He deserves JAIL TIME, and so does SHE...little witch mean girl...they are not funny

[califkid1]

06:53 PM on 12/12/2011

In college, my brother's buddies hid in his frat house closet and watched him have sex with his girlfriend. He went ballistic on them but didn't commit suicide. My own personal rule of life... No matter how bad it is; If they can't eat you or kill you; you can make it through anything... Everything passes...

[mother10]

11:19 PM on 12/12/2011

that poor girl !

[huffingbrownbags]

05:46 PM on 12/12/2011

I pray that Tyler Clementi RIP.

However, Dharun Ravi didn't murder anybody. The plea bargain is not justice.

"On Friday, Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman laid out some of the terms of the new offer: Ravi would be put on probation, be required to do 600 hours of community service and receive counseling. Also, the state would help him try to stave off any attempt by the federal government to deport him."

Ravi should go to trial, stay out of the criminal "justice" system and try to make his peace with Tyler Clementi's family.

[cybergrace]

02:42 PM on 12/13/2011

You don't have to stab or shoot someone to kill them. Many people are in jail for aiding and abetting a murder. Only 5 years?! Sounds like an amazing deal for him.

[akarmahitmydogma]

05:32 PM on 12/12/2011

this is a very foolish young man. no time? take it and run. however, his body language from the photo says cocky and coupled with being middle eastern, he'll be convicted. of course the ultimate irony is that had he simply minded his own business with regard to mr clementi's gay encounter he would have avoided his own, just wait till he meets his cellmate.

[PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS]

12:59 PM on 12/12/2011

Unfortunately the choice of rejecting a plea is an excellent choice for this little scmubag. His attorney will attack Tyler for being Gay and attempt to portray Ravi as some sort of victim. All it is going to take is one juror who has a dislike of Gays (like that is hard to find) and this scmubag walks.......................

[majesticjkr]

09:33 AM on 12/12/2011

im not a gay lover but i do think that this man should be made accountable for the young mans death, he should be sent to prison for a very long time and then get deported to somewere very cold,

[joe1964]

01:24 AM on 12/12/2011

I am curious. There is, in the article, talk of a 'disturbing rash' of suicides of gays. I am not sure this is correct. In fact I am almost positive that this is not correct. The writer is inferring that suddenly, gay people have begun to commit suicide. Instead, shouldn't they be writing and talking about how finally the media and everyone else is finally acknowledging the holocaust of our gay youth that has been going on unacknowledged all along?
How many children killed themselves in 1964, in 1974, 1989, 2001? How many of them were gay? How many were the result of bullying?
This must stop. Now.

[MsMoonpieJD]

01:24 PM on 12/12/2011

I agree. LGBT suicide may be a new issue to the media, but it isn't to those of us in the LGBT community. It has been an issue for decades. It gets attention now, but it's an old, and very sad subject for us. I was a LGBT hotline counselor and director in the early 1990s and what we worried about the most was the suicides.

[joe1964]

01:32 PM on 12/12/2011

Thank you so much for volunteering on the hotline. I wonder how many lives that were saved by you and the hotlines. I, unfortunately, did not know they existed back in 1975. I grew up with a lot of problems that access to a sympathetic ear might have turned around. I am so glad things for the kids are different now.

[Zach Abi Nader]

11:32 PM on 12/11/2011

If Ravi did not have his own gay tendencies he would not have preyed on Poor Tyler. I find that people who do horrible things to gay people are usually gay themselves, because they cannot deal with it............... I hope they put him in Jail and then ship him off to India. He is just pure garbage.

[mother10]

10:49 PM on 12/12/2011

agreed

[lovingthismoment50]

10:43 PM on 12/11/2011

Throw the bigot in jail for a good chunk of his life, if not all of it. We need to show the world that what he did is not acceptable, and it comes with SERIOUS consequences.

[mother10]

10:52 PM on 12/12/2011

amen

[eeslansingfr]

07:58 PM on 12/11/2011

If the dead was from India, and the criminal was a WASP, the story would have been very different...