Dharun Ravi Gets Conviction Overturned, New Trial In Tyler Clementi Webcam Case

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Dharun Ravi, who filmed his roommate, Tyler Clementi, having an intimate encounter with another man, had his 15-count conviction overturned by a state appeals court Friday.

In its decision, the court ordered a new trial for Ravi on counts that included invasion of privacy and tampering with evidence.

Ravi and Clementi, a village native, were roommates in September 2010 when Ravi streamed the encounter online. Ravi was convicted in 2012 of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy.

Ravi was convicted on 15 counts of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy charges for filming a series of webcam spying incidents involving Clementi.

Ravi faced a potential 10-year jail sentence but received only a 30-day sentence in 2011, a sentence that drew a lot of criticism. He served 20 days in the Middlesex County Jail in 2012 and was released on “good behavior.”

The appeals court said that the evidence the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office presented during Ravi's trail "tainted" the verdict. (Read the appeal's court decision here.)

The appeals court, while overturning his conviction, criticized Ravi's actions:

"The social environment that transformed a private act of sexual intimacy into a grotesque voyeuristic spectacle must be unequivocally condemned in the strongest possible way.

"The fact that this occurred in a university dormitory, housing first-year college students, only exacerbates our collective sense of disbelief and disorientation. All of the young men and women who had any association with this tragedy must pause to reflect and assess whether this experience has cast an indelible moral shadow on their character."

Representatives for Ravi said they wanted his record cleared since the state Supreme Court, in a separate case, struck down part of the state's bias crime statute that may have impacted the Clementi case.

"It's far from over," Ravi's attorney Steven Altman was quoted as saying on nj.com Friday morning. "I'm extraordinarily pleased with the decision. I haven't spoken with the Ravi family yet, but I can only imagine they're pleased as well."

Clementi killed himself after finding out about the filming by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. His parents, Joe and Jane, created the Tyler Clementi Foundation, which works to address bullying and issues gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people face.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Related: With ‘Good Behavior,’ Dharun Ravi Released From Jail
Related: Tyler Clementi’s Parents Launch New Campaign To End Bullying

Dharun Ravi — Patch file photo