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Ravi Guilty on All 15 Counts, Including a Hate Crime


Dharun Ravi today was found guilty of all 15 counts against him, including invasion of privacy and anti-gay intimidation, a state law hate crime.

The hate crime is the most serious offense and carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, but convicts typically serve about two to four years in state prison for this.

Invasion of privacy carries up to five years, but convicts typically get probation and no prison time for this crime alone.

The judge will almost certainly sentence him to concurrent, or overlapping, prison terms so that in effect he'll only serve time for the most serious offense, rather than having his prison terms for all 15 crimes added together. So he's likely looking at several years in prison, possibly one to five.

Note: We initially heard some "not guilty" readings on the charges, but these pertained only to sub-counts and did not change the verdict. The jurors were given a list of questions, but only had to find him guilty on one point per count. So the "not guilty" sub-counts, which mostly pertained to alleged hate crimes against Clementi's lover "MB," didn't change his 15 count conviction.

 

Possible Deportation for Ravi

 

This felony conviction also means he could be deported to his native India, even though he has lived in the U.S. legally since he was young. There's a "high likelihood" of deportation after he serves his time, said legal expert John Fahy, because the bottom line is: any felony, you are getting deported. Immigration issues will be looked at after the sentencing.

 

What is a New Jersey Hate Crime?


In New Jersey, prosecutors can charge a hate crime if you target someone because they're gay or the victim reasonably believes he was targeted because he's gay.

The jurors were split on whether Ravi specifically targeted Clementi because he was gay, but found that Clementi reasonably believed he was being targeted for being gay, which increased his suffering. That was enough to convict.

Hate crime cases are hard to prove beyond doubt because you have to show the perp and victim's "state of mind" and motivation. That's also why hate crime laws are so controversial. You're punishing someone not just for what they've done, but for why they've done it and how they've made the victim feel by words and other non-criminal things.

Ravi's lawyer argued that Ravi was never motivated by anti-gay sentiment and that he was just being immature. A string of students testified that they never heard Ravi say anything negative about gays or about Clementi.

But students also said Ravi expressed concern about sharing a room with a gay man and in a Twitter post, Ravi wrote, "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into Molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay." All told, this was not a clear cut case of a hate crime, say legal experts, so it's fairly surprising that he was convicted.

Legally, the suicide is irrelevant, but practically speaking prosecutors probably would not have taken this case without the suicide, and almost certainly wouldn't have trumped it up to a hate crime if Clementi was not physically harmed. Ravi was never charged with causing the suicide.

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Dharun Ravi's Own Words Led to Conviction, Juror Tells ABC News

PHOTO: Dharun Ravi, center, is hugged by his father, Ravi Pazhani, right, as they leave court around noon in New Brunswick, N.J., March 16, 2012.

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Former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi was found guilty of a hate crime today for using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi, and a juror told ABC News that Ravi's own words were used to convict him.

Ravi, 20, was convicted of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, witness tampering and hindering arrest, stemming from his role in activating the webcam to peek at Clementi's date with a man in the dorm room on Sept. 19, 2010.

Ravi was also convicted of encouraging others to spy during a second date, on Sept. 21, 2010, and intimidating Clementi for being gay. Leverett noted that the jury did not think Ravi intended to intimidate Clementi, but that his actions caused Clementi to feel intimidated.

Clementi's case gained national attention when he committed suicide shortly after the spying by jumping off the George Washington Bridge Sept. 22, 2010. Ravi is not charged in connection with Clementi's death.

Three of the convictions carry a sentence of five to 10 years in prison. Because Ravi is a citizen of India, and is in the U.S. on a green card, he could be deported following his sentencing. The US deports most criminals convicted of felonies, with the exception of thefts of amounts under $10,000.

He is scheduled to be sentenced May 21.

FM

Which is worse.

 

Witchcraft murder: Couple jailed for Kristy Bamu killing

Eric Bikubi and Magalie Bamu Eric Bikubi and Magalie Bamu were convicted of murdering Bamu's 15-year-old brother Kristy

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A couple who tortured and murdered a 15-year-old boy they accused of using witchcraft have been jailed for life.

Kristy Bamu and four of his siblings were visiting his sister Magalie Bamu, 29, and her partner Eric Bikubi, 28, when he was killed.

Kristy drowned in a bath in an exorcism at their flat in Newham, east London, on Christmas Day in 2010 after days of torture, the Old Bailey heard.

Bikubi was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years while Bamu must serve 25 years.

During sentencing, Judge David Paget said the murder had a "sadistic element", adding it was "prolonged torture involving mental and physical suffering being inflicted before death".

Hammer and chisel

He added that the ordeal the children were subjected to "almost passes belief". However, he accepted Bikubi's defence that he had brain damage and had believed that Kristy was a witch.

But Judge Paget added: "The belief in witchcraft, however genuine, cannot excuse an assault to another person, let alone the killing of another human being."

Kristy Bamu Kristy Bamu suffered 130 injuries and was found dead in a bath

He told Bamu he did not accept her denial of belief in witchcraft and that she was forced to attack Kristy by Bikubi.

"It is only explicable if you shared Eric Bikubi's belief. It provides some explanation for what happened, but it does not excuse it," he told her, adding that at no stage had she said sorry.

During the trial, the court heard that Kristy was attacked with knives, sticks, metal bars, ceramic floor tiles, bottles and a hammer and chisel by Bikubi and Bamu who also used a pair of pliers to twist his ear.

He drowned after he was placed in a bath for ritual cleansing.

'Jump from window'

 

Kristy was visiting the couple from Paris for Christmas along with his siblings, who were also attacked by the couple after Bikubi accused them of bringing "kindoki" - or witchcraft - into his home.

Bikubi beat all three of them and forced other children to join in with the attacks, the jury heard.

Kristy's sisters, aged 20 and 11, escaped further attacks after "confessing" to being witches.

But he was singled out for wetting his pants.

“Start Quote

Not only has she has lost her entire family, she faces a solitary life in prison”

End Quote Philippa McAlasney QC Magalie Bamu's barrister

At one point, Bikubi told them to jump out of the window to see if they could fly. They looked to their older sister for help but instead Bamu encouraged Bikubi and beat Kristy until he also confessed to witchcraft.

In court, his sister Kelly, now 21, said: "It was as if they were obsessed by witchcraft. They decided we had come there to kill them."

She added: "Kristy asked for forgiveness. He asked again and again. Magalie did absolutely nothing. She didn't give a damn. She said we deserved it."

Bamu was also found guilty of two counts of assault, charges which Bikubi had pleaded guilty to. Judge Paget said he would not pass separate sentences for these convictions.

'Ritualistic' abuse

Henry Grunwald QC, for Bikubi, said: "What happened would not have ended as it did had it not been for Mr Bikubi's mental impairment."

Philippa McAlasney QC, for Magalie, said: "Not only has she lost her entire family, she faces a solitary life in prison."

Kristy's father, Pierre, had previously said in a statement: "I feel betrayed. To know that Kristy's own sister, Magalie, did nothing to save him makes the pain that much worse."

Scotland Yard said it had investigated 83 cases involving abuse resulting from ritualistic or faith-based beliefs over the last 10 years.

Det Supt Terry Sharpe said: "The sentencing reflected the brutality and sadistic cruelty inflicted on Kristy in the days leading up to his death.

"This is a hidden and under-reported crime and therefore difficult to deal with in terms of protecting potential victims from harm."

R
Originally Posted by Nehru:
THE ENTIRE WORLD ALREADY KNOW WHO ARE THE EVIL ONES. IF YOU THINK HARD ENOUGH YOU MAY BE ABLE TO KNOW THE ANSWER BUT i AM NOT GOING TO BET ON IT. SHITHEADS USUALLY NEED HELP TO FIGURE 1+1.Originally Posted by Lucas:

Hinduism and its abhorrent caste system is a fertile ground for cruelty and hatred

 

How many religions make human sacrifice part of their rituals or make social bullying and segregation one of their pillars as Hinduism does?

FM

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