Case #9: The Death of Tyler Clementi
A Little Bit About Tyler Clementi:
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| Tyler Clementi |
Tyler Clementi was, by all accounts, an accomplished young man. He was reportedly a talented violinist. Many of the people he played with would say Tyler never played played for the applause. They would say that he played because he loved to play. He was also said to have inspired others to start playing. However, he was also described as being shy.
Events Leading Up to Tyler's Suicide:
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| Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei |
According to one of my sources, Tyler had allegedly confided with a friend that he had met a 25-year-old man he wanted to bring back to his Rutgers dorm room. Tyler was reportedly worried that his roommate Dharun Ravi might walk in on them. Ravi did not walk in on them. Instead he had allegedly spied on the two men kissing with their shirts off. Ravi had allegedly hacked into a webcam in his and Clementi's dorm room. Now, the webcam incident may not have been the only factor in Tyler's committing suicide. There were instant message chats stating that Tyler had come out to his family, and that he felt as though his mother had rejected him. However, Clementi's mother did clarify that she was processing what her son told her and that cutting her son out of her life was never a possibility. As I was doing my research, I also learned that Ravi had apparently tried apologizing. However, from what I could tell, Ravi's attempts at apologizing appeared to be too little too late, as minutes before Ravi texted his apologies to Tyler, Tyler had posted on Facebook that he intended to kill himself. On September 21st, Tyler filed an online application for a room change. On September 22nd, 2010, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi jumped off of the George Washington Bridge, to his death.
Some Further Information:
Ravi watched Tyler's encounter in the room of his friend Molly Wei, who also bore witness to the interaction between Tyler and this other man. In fact, they viewed the ordeal on Molly's computer. Molly Wei is another person who is actually important to this case. Initially, Molly Wei was charged with two counts of invasion of privacy. However, she entered a pretrial intervention program. She was required to perform 300 hours of community service in exchange for having the charges against her dropped. Ravi had texted Wei repeatedly, asking her questions like "Did you tell them we did it on purpose?" and "What did you tell them when they asked why we turned it on?" Wei allegedly told them everything. She had said that Ravi showed her how the webcam could be remotely activated. She said they had watched "briefly." However, after the initial viewing, Ravi left the room. Wei's roommate and a friend asked if they could see as well. Wei said she showed them for "two seconds" before shutting it off. Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei were officially charged with invasion of privacy for secretly placing a camera in another student's dorm room and transmitting a sexual encounter on the internet. The investigation began after Rutgers police learned the camera had been placed in Clementi's room without permission. In the state of New Jersey, it is considered a fourth degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact without that person's consent. It is a third degree crime to transmit of distribute those images. The penalty for conviction of a third degree crime can include up to five years in prison.
The Trial:
While Ravi was charged with invasion of privacy, he was never charged in Tyler Clementi's death. The prosecution portrayed Ravi as a mean-spirited bully bent on outing his roommate. They went so far as to say that his actions went beyond the actions of innocent pranks. The defense pointed out that Ravi was only 18 at the time, and argued that he meant no harm. Molly testified in the trial. According to her, Ravi set up the web cam because he was initially worried about his belongings being stole. She did go on to say that he also wanted to confirm his suspicions that Tyler was gay. It is also important at this point to note that Molly Wei testified against Dharun Ravi. Here's a quote from her: "I think that he thought we were going to get in trouble, so he wanted to make it seem like it was more of an accident." Initially, Ravi was facing up to 10 years in prison. Ravi was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 300 hours of community service, a three year probation sentence, and was required to attend a counseling program related to cyber bullying and alternative lifestyles.
Final Notes:
In my opinion, both Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei received the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. I'm not necessarily saying they deserved life in prison, but it didn't strike me as though either of them were completely innocent either. Sure, Molly testified against Dharun Ravi, but she also could have said no when her own roommate asked about seeing Tyler Clementi's sexual encounter. Ravi's own attempts at apologizing and the reasoning he gave did not feel genuine to me. However, I should also note that in 2016, an appeals court overturned Ravi's conviction.
Sources:
https://www.nj.com/news/2011/08/rutgers_suicide_new_details_re.html
https://www.out.com/news-commentary/2011/12/08/tyler-clementi-parents-interview-people
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