Prosecutors Mull Additional Charges in Rutgers Suicide

(Oct. 1) -- New Jersey prosecutors are considering additional charges against two Rutgers University students who allegedly streamed a classmate's gay sexual encounter over the Internet. The classmate committed suicide.

"Now that two individuals have been charged ... we will be making every effort to assess whether bias played a role in the incident, and, if so, we will bring appropriate charges," Middlesex County prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, both 18, were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for allegedly using a camera to view and transmit a live image of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi on Sept. 19. Clementi, a resident of Ridgewood, N.J., was Ravi's roommate.

Clementi leaped from the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22. His body was recovered Wednesday from the Hudson River and was officially identified on Thursday.

His parents said they would hold a private funeral. Rutgers planned a candlelight vigil for 7 p.m. Sunday.

"The outpouring of emotion and support from our friends, community and family -- and from people across the country -- has been humbling and deeply moving. We thank each of you from the bottom of our hearts," Jane and Joe Clementi said in a statement today.

"We understand that our family's personal tragedy presents important legal issues for the country as well as us," the parents said. "Regardless of legal outcomes, our hope is that our family's tragedy will serve as a call for compassion, empathy and human dignity."

There has been speculation in the media that Kaplan's comment about the possibility of additional charges could mean he is considering charging Ravi and Wei with a hate crime. At this point, it remains unclear whether that is a consideration, and a spokesman for the prosecutor said he could not comment on any specifics of the case.

"Since the investigation is active and is continuing, specific details cannot be disclosed at this time," spokesman Jim O'Neill said in an e-mail to AOL News. "No additional charges were filed today. A court hearing date has not been set."

Steve Cron, a veteran criminal defense attorney in Santa Monica, Calif., told AOL News he thinks it is unlikely that hate crime charges will be levied against Ravi and Wei. He doesn't see grounds for other charges.

"If they can prove a hate crime, they could charge them, but I just don't see it," Cron said. "They have got the invasion of privacy and putting it out on the Internet, which subjects them to five years, but I don't see it going any further than that unless there is something they are privy to that I'm not."

The problem that prosecutors face is proving there was intent, Cron said.

"Yes, they embarrassed him, but there has to be some intent," he said. "Just because a guy jumps off a bridge doesn't mean he jumped off the bridge because of that. He is not around to say what his motives are. It is wrong, and it shouldn't have happened, but did they really intend for this to happen? I don't think so, and I don't see how you are going to hold them responsible."

Cron said he believes prosecutors are under pressure to hold Ravi and Wei accountable and are trying to appease an angry public.

In fact, an online search suggests many believe they deserve lengthy prison sentences, although neither has been convicted of a crime. As of today, nearly 10,000 people had joined a Facebook group calling itself "Manslaughter Charges for Dharun Ravi & Molly Wei."

"This page was created to advocate criminal charges, such as involuntary manslaughter, against those students responsible," the group description reads.

"They might not have meant to push Tyler over the edge but that's what they did," one poster wrote today. "They should be ashamed of themselves and I hope they rot in jail."

Ravi is free on $25,000 bail, and Wei is free on her own recognizance. If convicted, both students face a prison term of up to five years.

There has been no public statement from Ravi or Wei, their attorneys or family members. Calls to Ravi's parents by AOL News went unanswered today, and neither of the defendants' attorneys returned calls for comment.

Ravi and Wei both attended Windsor-Plainsboro High School North before enrolling at Rutgers less than a month ago. Ravi enrolled in Rutgers' School of Arts and Sciences, and Wei is a pharmacy major at Rutgers' Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.

The Daily Beast reported today that Ravi comes from a family headed by a computer consultant in Plainsboro, N.J., and Wei's father is a chemical engineer in Princeton, N.J.

Friends who have spoken out on behalf of Ravi have described him as an outgoing individual who enjoys computers and playing pranks.

"I definitely don't think it was a hate crime," Ravi's high school friend Jeremiah Ward, 20, told The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. "I think it was 'I want to play a prank' ... I guess it escalated to something bigger."

Another friend, Derek Yan, 16, who attended high school with Ravi and Wei, told The Associated Press that neither of them was homophobic.

"He had gay friends," Yan said of Ravi. "He said he was lucky to have a good roommate. He said his roommate [Clementi] was cool."

A resident of Clementi and Ravi's dorm, who didn't want to be identified, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he had seen Ravi and Clementi together and "there was no tension."

Regardless of whether additional charges are filed against either of the defendants, they are already facing consequences, Cron said.

"They're looking at jail time now, probably getting expelled from school, and their names and pictures are all over the Internet," he said. "They are going to have to go hide someplace because they have been uniformly vilified. It's not like it's a walk in the park.

"I'm not saying we should applaud these kids by a long shot, but did they really intend for this to happen?"