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

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8. Thinking out loud: Part of what I think went wrong here - Ravi Dharun,

from the account of how events unfolded (which was reported recently in the New Yorker), and I think it's a big one, is that it doesn't appear Dharun went to ANY lengths to acquaint himself with his new roommate. In fact, his father had to prompt him to introduce himself.

So clearly, from Day One, Ravi did NOT want to socialize with Tyler, nor did he want to be on friendly terms.

Had he reached out and attempted to strike up a friendship with Tyler, and even if later events happened identically, there is a part of me that thinks maybe Tyler would have dealt with this by raising it with Dharun personally.

Years ago, I did an apprenticeship at a place, and on my first day, I was introduced to all the guys (it was an all-male enterprise), and they were all quite amiable. At one point I was focusing on something, and I went to get a glass of water, but someone had tied my uniform to a piece of equipment. LOL I thought nothing of it, frankly, but later, we all laughed, it was a practical joke on the 'rookie', and in the spirit of teamwork, I just sort of took it in good humor.

The type of 'joke' Dharun played on Tyler was altogether more serious, but even so, there is a part of me that thinks he really didn't mean for this to go so far, or that he didn't understand exactly what he was really doing.