Lawyer: Rutgers webcam spy suspect just a boy, not a bigot; prosecutor called acts ‘malicious’ [View all]

[Little Tich]

Source: Washington Post / AP

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — The trial of a former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate’s intimate liaison with another man opened Friday with questions about whether the defendant had a problem with gay people.

A prosecutor told jurors that Dharun Ravi, now 19, spied on roommate Tyler Clementi and acted maliciously “to deprive him of his dignity.” Clementi, in an act that sparked a national conversation about bullying of young gays, committed suicide days after the alleged spying in September 2010.

Ravi’s lawyer insisted his client isn’t bigoted. “He may be stupid at times,” defense attorney Steven Altman said in his opening statement. “He’s an 18-year-old boy, but he’s certainly not a criminal.”

Early witnesses testified that Ravi expressed discomfort about having a gay roommate, but they didn’t know him to have a problem with gay people generally.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/opening-arguments-expected-in-trial-of-nj-student-accused-of-using-webcam-to-spy-on-roommate/2012/02/24/gIQA5ucAXR_story.html