New Jersey v. Dharun Ravi

New Jersey v. Dharun Ravi
CourtSuperior Court in Middlesex County, New Jersey
Full case name State of New Jersey vs. Dharun Ravi
DecidedMarch 12, 2012 (2012-03-12)
VerdictGuilty on all counts (2012; overturned in 2016)
Case history
Appealed toAppellate Division
Subsequent actions
  • Ravi sentenced to 30 days in jail (paroled after 20 days), plus 3 years probation and 300 hours of community service
  • Appellate court found bias intimidation laws unconstitutional, invalidating Ravi's original convictions. Ravi subsequently accepted a guilty plea deal from prosecutors, for one count of attempted invasion of privacy.
Court membership
Judge sittingGlenn Berman

State of New Jersey vs. Dharun Ravi was a criminal trial held in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Superior Court from February 24, 2012, to March 16, 2012, in which former Rutgers University undergraduate student Dharun Ravi was tried and convicted on 15 counts of crimes involving invasion of privacy, attempted invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, tampering with evidence, witness tampering, and hindering apprehension or prosecution.[1][2][3]

The charges stemmed from incidents that occurred on September 19 and 21, 2010. On September 9, 2016, a New Jersey court of appeals overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial on narrower charges.[4] The following month, Ravi accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to one count of attempted invasion of privacy.[5]

In the first incident, Ravi and his friend Molly Wei used a webcam to view a private romantic encounter between Ravi's roommate, Tyler Clementi, and another man identified only as "M.B."[6]

In the second incident, Ravi urged friends and Twitter followers to watch via his webcam a second private encounter between Clementi and M.B., though the viewing never occurred.[7] Clementi died by suicide on September 22, 2010, and his death brought national and international attention to Ravi's trial.[8][9]

On May 21, 2012, Ravi was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 3 years' probation, 300 hours of community service, a $10,000 fine, and counseling on cyberbullying and alternate lifestyles.[10] Ravi served 20 days of his 30-day jail term from May 31 to June 19, 2012, at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick, New Jersey.[11][12]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference huffingtonpost was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference njcom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ DeMarco, Megan; Calefati, Jessica; Epstein, Sue; McGlone, Peggy; Sherman, Ted (16 March 2012). "Dharun Ravi found guilty in Rutgers webcam spying trial". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2022 – via NJ.com.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference overturn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference pleadeal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Curry, Colleen (27 February 2012). "Rutger's Trial: Dharun Ravi's Texts to Witness". ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference nj_d was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYTimesVerdict was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Foderaro, Lisa (September 29, 2010). "Invasion of Privacy Charges After Death of Tyler Clementi". The New York Times. New York. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  10. ^ DeMarco, Megan; Friedman, Alexi (2012-05-21). "Live blog: Dharun Ravi sentenced to 30 days in jail". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 2013-12-05 – via NJ.com.
  11. ^ Haydon, Tom. "Dharun Ravi arrives to begin jail sentence". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 2013-12-05 – via NJ.com.
  12. ^ Haydon, Tom (June 19, 2012). "Dharun Ravi is released from Middlesex County jail". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2017 – via NJ.com.