The former Rutgers student convicted in the Tyler Clementi webcam case, has won his appeal seeking to overturn his convictions.
After four years from Dharun Ravi's conviction on several counts of bias intimidation and other charges, the appellate agreed that he should have never been charged with bias crimes and all of his convictions should be reversed.
According to officials, days after Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge several days after the bullying incidents in September 2010, Ravi (his roommate) tried to mislead investigators by deleting text messages from his phone and changing an incriminating post about the webcam on his Twitter account, to cover up his alleged role in using a webcam to secretly watch Clementi in an intimate encounter with another man. Ravi was also accused of trying to convince friends not to testify against him. Ravi, of Plainsboro, was eventually indicted on 15 counts, labeling the case a hate crime.
Prosecution will now have 20 days to decide whether or not to appeal to the state Supreme Court. The appeals court has remanded the case for a new trial in Superior Court.
The decision also ordered a new trial, even though Ravi has already served his 30-day sentence and three years of probation.