After Dharun Ravi’s attorney filed a motion in August calling for dismissal of all charges, Middlesex County first assistant prosecutor Julia McClure wrote a response to the court, saying Ravi’s text messages to Tyler Clementi were futile efforts to spare himself from disciplinary action by Rutgers. McClure states that the teen was covering up his true intentions as he was worried about being reprimanded for using a webcam to film Clementi and a male companion in the dorm room.
“This was just one of many attempts by [the] defendant to dilute, cover up, and explain, in other words to tamper with the facts and to fabricate evidence that could be looked on as favorable to him,” wrote McClure.
To oppose the motion filed on Ravi’s behalf, the prosecution cited several instant-message chats, texts, and E-mails sent by both Clementi and Ravi as substantial reasons to proceed with the case.
In an online chat Ravi allegedly wrote: “What if I catch him with a dude in my room. I’ll have Jarvis [a talking computer software program installed on his laptop] warn me if he tries to rape me at night.”
Although the prosecution attests that Clementi’s suicide is not relevant to the issues of harassment and invasion of privacy, Ravi’s attorney wants further documentation about the suicide submitted to the court as possible evidence that Clementi was depressed from a variety of factors, including his mother’s rejection of his sexual orientation.
