Dharun Ravi, 19, reportedly sent a text message in which he apologized to Tyler Clementi, his Rutgers University roommate, on September 22 of last year. Clementi had taken his own life 14 minutes earlier. Prosecutors think Ravi’s apology – sent after he learned he would be disciplined by Rutgers for using a webcam to film Clementi’s romantic encounter with a male friend – was just a cynical attempt to avoid punishment from the school. “This was just one of many attempts by [the] defendant to dilute, cover up and explain, in other words to tamper with facts and to fabricate evidence that could be looked on as favorable to him,” Middlesex County prosecutors said. Ravi is charged with 15 offenses, including bias and intimidation. Prosecutors were responding to a motion filed by Ravi’s attorney to dismiss the charges. The prosecution cited instant-message chats, other text messages and emails sent by both Clementi and Ravi as more than enough reason to proceed. In one email to his resident assistant, Clementi allegedly wrote: “I feel my privacy has been violated and I am extremely uncomfortable sharing a room with someone who would act in this wildly inappropriate manner.” In one chat, Dharun Ravi allegedly wrote: “What if I catch him with a dude in my room. I’ll have Jarvis [a talking computer software program he installed on his laptop] warn me if he tries to rape me at night.” Ravi is not charged with causing Clementi’s death. Prosecutors say Tyler Clementi’s suicide is actually not relevant to their case. Still, Ravi’s attorney wants documents about the suicide to be considered as possible evidence that Clementi may have been depressed prior to his death. He killed himself by jumping off NYC’s George Washington bridge in a tragedy that helped launch the campaign against bullying by many celebrities.
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Dharun Ravi Apology, Actions Criticized in Tyler Clementi Case
