The three-judge Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jerseyhas tossed the convictions against Dharun Ravi—a former Rutgers University student whose roommate, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide after he was captured on a webcam kissing another man.
In 2012, a jury found Ravi guilty of 15 counts of various charges. He was subsequently sentenced to 30 days in jail, three years of probation and 300 hours of community service; Ravi served 20 days.
The panel dismissed four counts of bias intimidation (due to statutory changes) as well as one count of hindering. The judges also ordered a new trial on the 10 other counts for which Ravi was indicted because the evidence used to prove the bias charges “tainted the jury’s verdict on the remaining charges, depriving defendant of his constitutional right to a fair trial.”
Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge in 2010 after learning what Ravi had done.