Opening Statements Kick Off in Tyler Clementi Cyberbullying Trial - East Idaho News
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Opening Statements Kick Off in Tyler Clementi Cyberbullying Trial

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N 101410 TylerClementi 1?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1330086408913Tyler Clementi/Facebook(NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.) — Opening statements are set to begin Friday in a New Jersey courtroom for the trial of Dharun Ravi, the Rutgers University student who’s accused of cyberbullying his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi.

Clementi jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22, 2010, three days after Ravi, using a webcam, captured and streamed an intimate encounter between Clementi and another man.  The freshman’s suicide struck a growing anti-bullying nerve in America and became a blog-driven lightning rod for outrage in the gay community.

Although not charged in Clementi’s death, Ravi, 19, faces up to 10 years in state prison if he is convicted on the multiple counts of invasion of privacy, witness tampering, hindering prosecution and bias intimidation.

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