I'm uncertain about the hate crime aspect.

Spying on some one should always be dealt with harshly, though.

Punishable, yes, but I thought that where it went from a minor thing to a major one was spreading the information around.

Those who are nasty towards others and those who are not so.

He's the former.

I don't know if he'll get that, though. He's very young, and there's the issue of intent--he never intended for his roommate to kill himself, I'm quite certain, even if he was prejudiced against gay people.

We'll see when he's sentenced.

I didn't think a conviction in this case was a sure bet, not the way his lawyer was spinning. I guess some juries can see through the spin.

I wonder if there will be an appeal? If this kid comes from wealth, I'm guessing yes--unless it's a "No jail time/probation" sentence.

Counseling and 600 hours of community service. He turned it down, which seems incredibly stupid in hindsight.

May not be much; but enough to put the point across.

shred of remorse on his part.

He was charged with the things he CERTAINLY had intent to do.

That might have an effect on the sentence, and a factor to mitigate that is that he didn't intend for the roommate to kill himself.

Spy on his room mate, make that spying available to others, witness tampering, etc. That Tyler killed himself is not the basis of the charges, but it sure did make certain that his crimes would come to light. He deserves prison time and deportation.

The suicide was just a bit of tragic icing on a very sad cake. It does affect this situation, though, even if there was no intent to make it happen. Once someone is dead, they are dead. There's no bringing them back to apologize.

He should have taken that cushy plea deal. Now he might be deported after he finishes his sentence.

I can't imagine what the basis of his appeal will be....incompetent counsel? (It's an argument to be made--he could do 600 hours of community service standing on his head).

Whether or not he wanted him to kill himself isn't important. The fact that he harassed someone and embarrassed them enough to make them do so, is telling in and of itself.

He was given another option and refused it. Let him rot in jail.

It is my understanding that in India, this kind of thing is taken quite seriously and if convicted the perp can be convicted to 25 years in prison. And I suspect Indian prisons are way worse than US prisons.

He'll do his prison time here. He's not guilty of anything in India--the crime and conviction happened here.

He might not get back to the states ever again, though,if he is subsequently deported-- as a convicted criminal he might be persona non grata.

And I think he's more "American" than "Indian," despite his place of birth. He may have trouble adjusting.

Of course, he's digging in and appealing. He'll never get that sweet plea deal again, though.

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/msnbc-tv/46768871/#46768871

or see that the suicide was really prompted by this one incident.

i dont think dharun ravi is a great guy or anything, but i wonder if we are taking out collective frustration about bullying gay kids on this one target.

it's hard to face the fact that he did something quite awful to another person.

If Tyler had not later committed suicide, then perhaps everyone would have dismissed it as a college prank, room assignments would have been changed, and nobody would have ever heard of either one of them.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) -- An alternate juror in the trial of a former Rutgers University student convicted in a webcam spying episode that ended in his gay roommate's suicide said he disagrees with the verdict.

James Downey told The Record (http://bit.ly/FQAmks ) newspaper on Saturday that he wouldn't have voted to convict Dharun Ravi on any charges related to allegations that his actions were motivated by anti-gay bias.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RUTGERS_SUICIDE_ALTERNATE_JUROR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-03-18-18-17-43