Lawyer: Rutgers webcam spy suspect not a bigot
Former Rutgers University student, Dharun Ravi, arrives for the opening arguments at his trial in New Brunswick, N.J., (Feb. 24, 2012) Credit: AP
A defense lawyer says the former Rutgers student accused of using a webcam to view his roommate's intimate encounter with another man was not hateful and didn't mean to humiliate the roommate.
Steven Altman tells a jury in an opening statement Friday that the trial will show that 19-year-old Dharun Ravi was not anti-gay, not a bully and didn't intimidate anyone. Altman says his client was an 18-year-old boy who behaved normally for someone his age.
Ravi faces 15 criminal charges, including bias intimidation and invasion of privacy.
The story got national attention in September 2010 when roommate Tyler Clementi killed himself by jumping off a bridge just days after the alleged spying.
A prosecutor said Friday morning that the alleged spying was "malicious."
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