NEW BRUNSWICK — The man who was with Tyler Clementi in his dorm room
when Clementi's roommate viewed them via webcam has just entered the
courtroom to testify in New Brunswick this morning.
Identified only as M.B., he is wearing a blue striped button-up shirt
and black pants. He is clean-shaven and has short black hair. He
smiled for a moment while talking to his attorney, Richard Pompelio,
but he appears noticeably nervous.
During the time that M.B. was intimate with Tyler Clementi, he noticed
there was a webcam pointed at Clementi's bed, M.B. testified today.
"Being in a compromising position and seeing a camera lens just kind
of stuck out," M.B. testified, adding that if someone was sitting at
the desk where the webcam was, it would be pointed in a different
direction.
"I just noticed it because I happened to glance over," he said. "There
was a camera lens glancing directly at me."
M.B. and Tyler Clementi met on a social networking site at the end of
August 2010, and they met in person for the first time on Thursday,
Sept. 16.
They spoke mostly in instant chats and text messages, he said.
There is a heavy media presence in the standing-room courtroom. The
Clementi family is sitting in the front row behind the prosecution
table, next to Pompelio. M.B. entered shortly after 9 a.m. and sat
next to Pompelio.
Today is the first time M.B., who has been identified only by his
initials because he does not want his identity known, is speaking
publicly. The judge just ordered that he is not to be photographed and
his testimony not be recorded. He is considered a victim in the case.
Clementi and M.B. were seen kissing in Clementi's dorm room on Sept.
19, 2010, when Clementi's roommate turned on his webcam from a
friend's laptop.
Now the roommate, Dharun Ravi, is on trial in Middlesex County and
faces charges of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and hindering
apprehension.
Prosecutors allege that Ravi intentionally set up the webcam to
humiliate his gay roommate, but his lawyer contends that Ravi is not
prejudiced.
Ravi's lawyer, Steve Altman, has also emphasized that M.B. appeared
disheveled and out of place in a college dormitory. Students have
testified that he looked "shady" and "shabby."
Altman says Ravi turned on the webcam only because he wanted to check
on his expensive computer equipment and didn't trust his roommate's
guest.
Clementi committed suicide a few days after the alleged spying,
sparking a national dialogue on cyber-bullying and harassment of gay
teenagers. Ravi is not charged in connection with Clementi's death.
Today is the sixth day of testimony in the trial, which is expected to
last three to four weeks.
More:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/rutgers_webcam_trial_secret_wi.html
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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