No.

He committed suicide. The video humiliated him but that reaction of committing suicide was entirely his choice.

faggots are so jumpy anyway.

@TheLizarellaProject - yeah exactly and they should serve the allotted time of punishment on the books. No more.

I think 3 years is the regular no for taping someone have sex against their will? So in that regards, its more than the usual. But yes I guess they will get more if charged for indirect manslaughter.

@seeker_nyc - I don’t know how to respond to this because I agree logically, but viscerally I’m sad it had to happen.

@contrarians - Hm?

@remiblanc0 - Believe me, I feel the same way! I really hate that this kid felt he had to kill himself. He was on the cusp of manhood and he had a lot to offer the world. So did these two suspects. But we’ll never know because their lives will be ruined by some really bad choices they made.

@phuck_diz_shiz - you summed it up best

No. I also don’t think that is a reason to kill yourself either. Such a shame.

@seeker_nyc - No, suicide isn’t just a choice. When people fall into spirals of depression they lose all rationality, which is why it’s considered an illness. Clearly the experience freaked him out so much he felt he didn’t HAVE a choice, so in his mind it wouldn’t have been “ah, I can either kill myself or hold my head high and get through this.” It literally was “this is so bad I have to die.” What they did was thoughtless and obnoxious, and although I doubt they meant to cause that, I think time in prison is appropriate since they caused loss of a life. I don’t know- I’d sentence somewhere between 3-5 years.

I don’t think they should get any jail time. He should have settled it a different way. Killing himself was completely on him and that should be held against him and no one else. I do think that the classmates putting the video online was kinda wrong, but either way, they did nothing other then make sure he was laughed at. He should have been secure with his sexualty and delt with it in a whole different way. So the classmates deserve no jail time at all.

And for those of you who say depression makes suicide not a choice. YOU ARE FUCKING IDIOTS. Read a book, the read what you wrote and realize how dumb it is. You ALWAYS have a choice.

The article doesn’t indicate if the 5 years is for the suicide or just
the invasion of privacy. I don’t know what typical sentences are for these cases in the US but those two deserve to be punished for their actions. What they did was stupid and cruel. How could they not have known that this would humiliate that kid?

@bryonyinsua - um, well there is mandated prison time already on the books for that length of time: 5 years. For invasion of privacy and cyber voyeurism, I think.

Suicide is a choice. Maybe it’s not a rational choice but it’s still a choice. Choices don’t need to be rational.

@typewriterss - Amen

@seeker_nyc - they where what broke the camel’s back. they pushed him.

Video taping is invasion of privacy. For one. But the whole process of planning, following through, than posting the video-should contribute to their sentence. Coming out is very hard. So being that he was, “still in the closet” and than being humilated like that, pushed him to do a sad thing. And they are to blame. I hope they go to jail and become someone’s little bitch. (:

Definitely not enough. They should have them jailed for 40 years and caned 10 times. But in spite of all the horrible punishments that people and the laws can think of, they will never be enough. They won’t bring back the dead boy, nor would they console the parents much for having lost their son, 

@seeker_nyc - Agreed, 110%!

Yes.

You’re a day late with this one, Dan.

You should probably mention that they’re only being charged with invasion of privacy, and how bullshit that is. Or about how the roommate and his friend streamed it online for everyone to watch via iChat, inviting people to see it via Twitter.

@trunthepaige - I wish I could rec this comment.

@trunthepaige - good laws save us from ourselves.

@trunthepaige - yeah thankfully victim’s next of kin don’t get to administer justice in this country. We’re not Pakistan.

@trunthepaige - “And what if he had thought it was funny instead, as a lot of guys would?” Name 5 guys that would find it funny to be outed to friends and family via the internet.

@trunthepaige - lol I’m pretty sure none of my fraternity brothers would find this funny at all. And since you said “a lot of guys” I want 5 more. 

Edit: 5 more guys that you know for a fact would find this funny. Not 5 gay celebrities. Two different things.

@forgottenphoenix - if we are going to bring bullying into it i say execution is a fitting punishment. if you intentionally torment somone to the point that they take their own life, you have shown that you have no regard for their life to begin with. “intent follows the bullet” so to speak. the fact is if you intend to cause grievous physical or emotional harm to a person and they take their own life as a result, it is no different than you killing them yourself. this is why we have the felony-murder doctrine. to put it in it’s most basic form, if someone dies as a result of your crime(felony level), even if it was unintentional, you get charged with murder.

my only question, and mittigation towards the female would be was she aware of and complicit with what was going on? i’m not always paying attention to what people are doing when they are on the computer when im around. so, most likely she knew he was spying, but did she know he was streaming it? what exactly was her involvement? as much as the guy(funny how it says he is the one that got released) deserves punishment for sure, it would suck if he brought her down with him if she wasn’t actively involved.

@forgottenphoenix - I didn’t mean to say that a suicide resulting from a breakup was a comparable situation, I’m saying that in a legal realm convicting these two of manslaughter would open the door for a liability anywhere where a negative emotional state has been incurred, intentional or otherwise.  I don’t know that, under present law, a bully would be liable for the suicide of one of their victims.  Now, violation of privacy is an entirely different story, and in this case I have no doubt they could be hit with the maximum possible penalty for such a violation.  

@radicalreefer - doesnt matter. HE chose to kill himself. if it’s that bad, then fine, his choice. but the fact is, suicide is and will always be a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

@amateurprose - I’m just going to focus on your last paragraph because I think it’s the linchpin of your entire argument. “Okay, sure, I can honestly see how you could arrive at that conclusion but, honestly, the chaotic thoughts were a part of his own internal dialog, directed at himself, inward and NOT outward;  not twords an outside subject. The Psychology involved in this pattern of thought/reasoning  is completely different. Perhaps if he had killed his roommate, yes, that would be a circumspect thing to deduce, however, It was an external influence that caused  the internal collapse of logical thought and reasoning in Clemiente, which ultimately led to his suicide. “

I say if they are found guilty of their charges, then Molly Wei and Navi should be sentenced to no more than the penalty on the books. The burden of proof is on hysterical people, such as yourself, to show the thats and whys these two kids are responsible for this boy’s suicide. But…oh wait, you’re not a prosecutor! Thank God for that.

@amateurprose - i just believe that nothing is humiliating enough to kill yourself over. suicide is extreme. i dont care if your gay or straight. i feel bad for the kid and all i’m saying is he shouldnt have killed himself… lol, is that so horrible of me?

@disorderedpersonality - You know what usually makes the difference in the cases you cited? the prosecutor. Is he going to go for just the penalty allotted or is he an overzealous type or is he out to make a name for himself because it’s re-election time and he wants to make an example out of someone?

I’m not saying that Navi and Wei are blameless in this guy’s death. Obviously if the video had not been filmed and broadcast, Tyler would still be alive. But is there beyond a reasonable doubt that they’re culpable for this kid’s death? Or that they even intended for him to commit suicide?

@disorderedpersonality - what if when you hit a pedestrian with you car, your case gets upgraded to attempted murder? How would you feel?

I heard about that on the news this morning. So sad. =[ 

@MrAlmighty - um he didn’t get “emo” … normal people don’t invade other people’s privacy for their own enjoyment.  truth.

these people will do NO time. they won’t be fined or kicked out of school. the parents of the boy CAN file a wrongful death lawsuit though but that’s all. looking at the facts – it was a nasty prank. prison time is too harsh because the potential consequences were unseen. i seriously doubt either of the two considered anything past their own excitement of airing the video. it’s tragic all around. oh, i can’t resist this childish stab: to contrarians – since most of your posts consist of getting laid and thinking only with your tiny dick i imagine you are a closet “faggot” yourself. that’s ok. we forgive you because we all know the biggest closeted queers are the first to start slinging the homophobic terminology around. 

@forgottenphoenix - i plopped out execution just to illustrate the point that if they are culpable under such a doctrine(though i don’t believe that what they did constitutes a felony, i could be wrong but i doubt it is) this goes from “invasion of privacy” to murder, the same as premeditated murder with no stops along the way in the “manslaughter” zone. in my mind, intent is the key in deciding culpability. if there was malice involved(ie the intent to do harm) then i would say they are culpable and to the extent of their involvment should be punished for the crime of murder(ravi being fully entrenched and the young lady’s involvement thuroughly investigated). i will reiterate that the impression i got from the article is that the main actor in this is walking free on bond while a potentially innocent second victim(it does not say she knew what he was doing) is still rotting in jail. i find that to be very disturbing.

5 years is a long time in prison.  It fits.  It wasn’t a homicide, and I’m sure the poster didn’t ever think it would go that far.

@amateurprose - the only person who should be embarrassed here is you. Because you are an overly emotional person. By your reckoning, whatever that kid Tyler did, is the fault of Ravi and Wei. So if Tyler had shot up the school instead of jumping off a bridge, he wouldn’t have been held responsible. He was just responding to what had happened to him. I’m going by your “logic” here, which is laughable at best.

This is for the people who are saying his sexuality had NOTHING to do with what happened: If this guy had been taped with a woman, I’m pretty sure the results would have been different. Obviously his feelings about his sexuality were not resolved, and these guys that taped him manipulated that.

I think these guys should be punished, though I don’t think jail will do either of them any good. People like them are narcissistic and generally self-righteous. They’d still be laughing about it if he hadn’t jumped. What kind of punishment? Oh, how about the same kind of torturous humiliation he endured. I’ll leave Karma to that one.

Legally speaking this is a complicated situation. Emotionally speaking, we want them to be held accountable. Otherwise, we’re talking about legal accountability. [Can we really say that their actions inevitably caused his death and prove it? ] If we do, then what? No matter the result of the trial, a life was taken because someone wanted to have fun at someone else’s expense. It’s not fair. It’s not right, but the law isn’t so good at dealing with situations such as these because the law dwells in the realm of right and wrong and the interpretation of that. This is a grey area.