NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Dharun Ravi has filed notice that he will appeal his hate crime conviction in the Rutgers webcam spying case, the Star-Ledger reported Monday.
Ravi, 20, was found guilty in March of bias intimidation as well as invasion of privacy and hindering his police investigation after jurors decided he was motivated by an anti-gay bigotry when he streamed a romantic encounter between his roommate and an older man on the internet.
The incident sparked a national debate over privacy rights and the bullying of gay youths when the roommate, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge soon after learning of Ravi’s spying in September 2010.
Ravi, who was not charged over Clementi’s death, is currently serving a 30-day jail sentence for his conviction.
According to the Star-Ledger, in his notice of appeal, Ravi indicated that he will argue that the bias intimidation statute is unconstitutional as applied to him, and that Judge Glenn Berman of Middlesex County Superior Court made several decisions that “prejudiced the defendant’s ability to get a fair trial.”
The appeals process could take as long as two years, meaning Ravi is currently serving a sentence that may ultimately be thrown out.
Ravi, who was born in India and never obtained US citizenship, also faces the possibility of deportation over his conviction.