The former Rutgers student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate's intimate encounter with another man has turned down a plea bargain.
Dharun Ravi, 19, affirmed his decision to go to trial. He faces 15 criminal counts in all, including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation, a hate crime. Conviction could mean 10 years or more in prison.
The plea deal would have limited his time behind bars to five years and could have kept him out of prison altogether.
A judge set a trial date of Feb. 21 for the case, which helped set off a national conversation about bullying of young gays and lesbians.
Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old violinist in his first weeks at Rutgers, killed himself in September 2010, just days after learning about the alleged spying.
One key issue that wasn’t fully resolved involves giving the name of the man who had the encounter with Clementi to Ravi and his lawyers.
On Thursday, the man, identified in court papers only as M.B., was represented in court by Richard Pompelio, a victims' rights lawyer who argued that his right to privacy outweighs Ravi's need to have information to defend himself. In court papers, the man pleads for privacy, saying he has "continuous and overwhelming" fears of having his privacy invaded if his name is disclosed.
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The judge ruled the information should be provided to the defense team, with the caveat that they not give that information to anyone else.
The prosecutor and Pompelio say they intend to appeal that ruling.
