Rutgers spy cam suicide

[BrianLynch]

His behavior has been pretty awful.  But I'm not sure he belongs in prison at all.  Oh well.  He should have taken the plea.  He's made his bed.

I wonder what punishment he could have gotten, though.  In all sincerity, you're right, it's a tough one.   Ah well.

[Hawkboy]

I wonder what punishment he could have gotten, though.  In all sincerity, you're right, it's a tough one.   Ah well.

From here:

Ravi rejected two plea deals before the case went to trial. In October, he declined 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. And in December, he rejected a deal that would have allowed him to avoid jail altogether, and instead be put on probation and be required to perform 600 hours of community service and receive counseling. The state would have also helped him try to stave off any attempt by the federal government to deport him.

Interesting. Seems like the prosecution wasn't too eager to take this to trial.

EDIT: And I just read that the only defence witnesses called were business associates of his father. Geez. Excellent strategy.

[JCEFalconi]

Seems to me like Dharun's a victim of the people defending him. Incompetent all around, even arguing Dharun turned the camera because he was scared for his belongings.

[katy]

Why on earth would he not take that second plea deal?  What a fool.  I do kind of feel bad for Dharun's parents.  They spoiled their offspring horribly, but I'm pretty sure they didn't have terrible intentions in doing so and were trying to give him things they couldn't have as children.  It's a real irony when you work all your life for material wealth only to find that the resulting entitlement has ruined your child's character and life (not to mention contributed to the suicide of another).

Also, I read the BEE comments; I'm not sure if he "learned to cope" so well from bullying, considering he's had serious drug & alcohol problems throughout his adult life and was also so conflicted about his sexuality that, if I recall, he wouldn't admit his relationship with his long-term boyfriend (or even identify as "gay" or "bisexual") until a year after the boyfriend died.

He didn't kill himself obviously, but I wouldn't say he's the paragon of mental health.

[Rich]

Fuck this kid.

[Dalton]

[]

Fuck this kid.

Read the New Yorker article.  It's eye opening.

[katy]

You read that article and you felt sorrier for Ravi?  I thought it was very damning, as it highlighted all his attempts to cover up his crime, and how little all of his contemporaries -- even people who claimed to be his friends -- think of him.

[Dalton]

You read that article and you felt sorrier for Ravi?  I thought it was very damning, as it highlighted all his attempts to cover up his crime, and how little all of his contemporaries -- even people who claimed to be his friends -- think of him.

I don't feel sorry for him.  I think reading in that New Yorker article about what actually went down, instead of overheated, wildly inaccurate media accounts made me not so quick to pick up the torches and pitch forks.

All this said, he took a big gamble when he rejected that very generous and lenient plea deal and he lost.  He did it to himself.  I just don't know if I was on that jury what I would've done.

[BrianLynch]

Dalton, so help me do not change your avatar to FREE THE RUTGERS DOUCHE.

[Dalton]

Dalton, so help me do not change your avatar to FREE THE RUTGERS DOUCHE.

No, that I won't do!!  Him I shed no tears for.

[sean]

Seems to me like Dharun's a victim of the people defending him. Incompetent all around, even arguing Dharun turned the camera because he was scared for his belongings.

Do you think there could've been some legal justification for any of his actions, if only his lawyers were competent enough to figure it out?  It's hard to make him out to be a victim of the fact that his actions were stupid enough that, legally, there's no real defense for any of it.

[Dalton]

Do you think there could've been some legal justification for any of his actions, if only his lawyers were competent enough to figure it out?  It's hard to make him out to be a victim of the fact that his actions were stupid enough that, legally, there's no real defense for any of it.

The defense would be he was just being a stupid kid.  He turned the camera on for about 5 seconds and tweeted about it. And didn't really even see anything.  There was never a "broadcast".  The only people who saw anything were Molly Wei and Dhrarun himself.

To me the incompetency comes with his lawyer allowing this to go to trial was a very reasonable plea deal was on the table.

[Hawkboy]

I think that the attempts to cover it up afterwards by sending phony tweets, Facebook messages, and telling friends to delete his texts made it worse than it may have been otherwise, but it's impossible to say.

[Dalton]

I think that the attempts to cover it up afterwards by sending phony tweets, Facebook messages, and telling friends to delete his texts made it worse than it may have been otherwise, but it's impossible to say.

Right, obviously he did himself in favors in the aftermath.  But again, we're talking about a sheltered, 18 year old scared kid.

The whole thing is just really horrible.  Every freshman entering a college dorm should be well schooled on this case. 

[sean]

The defense would be he was just being a stupid kid.

Wasn't that essentially the defense they offered?

To me the incompetency comes with his lawyer allowing this to go to trial was a very reasonable plea deal was on the table.

I agree that it's stupid to let this go to trial, but it sounds as if that was Dharun's decision.  I suppose it's possible that they pressured him to do so in order to make higher fees, but I haven't seen anything to suggest that.  In that article, he seems pretty strident about wanting it to go to trial.