Brody's Notes... Dharun Ravi Sentenced To 30 Days In Jail & Probation In Rutgers Suicide Case

Dharun Ravi at sentencing May 21, 2012  

By Brody Levesque | NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ -- A New Jersey Superior Court judge has sentenced former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi, 20, to 30 days in the Middlesex County Adult Detention facility, a three year probation sentence which includes a requirement to complete 300 hours of community services, and attend a counseling program relative to cyber bullying and alternate lifestyles. Ravi was also ordered to pay $10,000 to the probation department, the monies to be allotted to a program dedicated to victims of bias crimes.

As Judge Glenn Berman addressed Ravi, he quickly pointed out that he hasn’t heard Ravi apologize.

“I heard this jury say guilty 288 times: 24 questions, 12 jurors, that’s the multiplication,” Berman said. “And I haven't heard you apologize once.” 

Berman also said he will recommend that Ravi not be deported. “Down the road you can expunge this judgement,” Berman said. “You cannot expunge the conduct or the pain you caused.”

The Indian-born Ravi was facing a sentence of up to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy in a case that exploded into the headlines when Ravi's roommate committed suicide. Tyler Clementi, 18, jumped off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22, 2010, after finding out that Ravi had secretly recorded him live with a same-sex partner and appeared to encourage others to watch his romantic encounters via a webcast on Ravi's computer.

"This individual was not convicted of a hate crime, he was convicted of a bias crime," Judge Berman said, adding that Ravi's crimes were committed out of "colossal insensitivity.”

The Clementi family, addressing Ravi in their victim impact statements, highlighted Ravi's apparent lack of remorse about the incidents which caused them loss of their son and brother.

Joseph Clementi, Tyler Clementi’s father, became choked up as he read his impact statement;

“He was very vulnerable and he was shaken by the cold criminal actions of his roommate,” Clementi said referring to Tyler. "We are seeking justice and accountability, not revenge,” adding that he felt Ravi has shown a “lack of any real remorse.”

James Clementi, Tyler’s brother, said Ravi has never shown any remorse or apologized to the family, and he has found himself wondering if Ravi is “even capable of empathizing with another person.”

“I ask only for fairness and justice,” James Clementi said. He added that it was apparent that Ravi decided Tyler was “someone who deserved to be laughed at, picked on and violated.” “Tyler’s final days and hours were filled with fear, shame and a despair so great it ripped him away from me forever.”

Tyler’s mother, Jane Clementi, said Ravi’s actions were “malicious and evil.” “What I want is justice,” she said. “The court needs to show … this was not right and it was not acceptable behavior and it will not be tolerated.” She asked why no one else in the dorm spoke up for Tyler. “How could they all go along with such meanness?” she asked. “No one spoke up to the mastermind, the computer genius,” she said adding that Ravi’s actions were “mean-spirited, they are evil and most important they are against the law.”

Richard Pompelio, the lawyer for M.B.- the man who was caught on the web camera in the romantic encounter with Tyler Clementi- read from a written statement from his client saying; 

[...] "While I bear no anger towards Mr. Ravi, after much thought and many sleepless nights, I must say that Mr. Ravi should serve some type of confinement so that he can reflect on the serious harm he has caused," Pompelio read. "I do not believe that he has taken responsibility for his conduct, and to this day he seems to blame me for the actions he took."

After Judge Berman finished sentencing, he stayed the sentence at the request of Prosecutor Julia McClure who said that the state will appeal as prosecutors had asked for significant state prison time to be levied against the defendant. Defense lawyers also indicated that they would appeal as well.

A team of deputy sheriffs escorted Ravi and several of his relatives from the courtroom, hurrying them through a crowd of reporters and photographers who followed Ravi and his family as he was hustled silently to a nearby parking lot. Ravi refused to respond to repeated questions shouted from the crowd.