Tag Archives: miscarriage of Justice

OUTRAGE! – Georgia Judge Sentences Hate Crime VICTIM To Prison and Exile – HELP LUKE O’DONOVAN!

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21 year old Luke O’Donovan , a victim of an anti-gay attack in Atlanta has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges that he assaulted his attackers.

On December 31, 2012;  O’Donovan was attacked  at a New Year’s Eve party. He was beaten and stabbed by at least five men who shouted homophobic slurs at him during the altercation. O’Donavan defended himself with a pocketknife, and escaped the incident. He received treatment for stab wounds and injuries to his head and body at the Atlanta Medical Center.

But hours later he was the one was arrested by police hours and charged with attempted murder and five counts of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Luke  will spend the next two years in a Georgia prison, and then the following eight years on probation in what can only be described as exile after accepting a plea deal instead of standing before homophobic judge  Judge Todd Markle and acing up to a 110-year sentence if he were convicted by a jury, O’Donovan agreed to a plea deal Monday. 

To shed some light on where the sympathies of the Atlanta court seemed to lie, the sentencing hearing on Monday included testimonies from the mothers of the men who attacked O’Donovan. Judge Todd Markle told O’Donovan outright that he would have liked to put him in prison for more time than the plea deal entails. The prosecution argued that the word “faggot” was as “non-offensive” as teasingly calling someone a baby.

The sentence points again to Judge Markle’s homophobia and desire to extract as much punishment as possible for O’Donovan out of the plea deal. Specifically, the stipulation demands that after he leaves prison, during O’Donovan’s eight years of probation he is banned from the state of Georgia except for one county, Screven. Since an individual on probation is also not permitted to leave the state in which he or she is sentenced, O’Donovan is effectively banished from everywhere in the world for eight years except Screven County — which, by the way, has a population of just over 15,000 and boasts “small town living.” The nearest cities, Savannah and Augusta, are 60 miles away and are outside the space O’Donovan in which will be permitted to exist.

The Luke O’Donovan Support Committee released this statement:

“This is the epitome of a hate crime. Witnesses report seeing between five and 12 men attacking O’Donovan, stomping on his head and body, and stabbing him in the back while calling him a ‘faggot.’

“The demonization of O’Donovan’s actions is a part of a growing trend: criminalizing those who successfully defend themselves from hate crimes.”

“O’Donovan’s defense team was only able to negotiate the 10-year sentence after video footage surfaced of one of O’Donovan’s assailants participating in an attack of a transgender woman on July 3.”

Luke will enter the prison system first at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, GA, where he will spend the first thirty to sixty days of his sentence. He will then be transferred to Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, GA for between thirty and sixty days, during which his long-term location will be determined. Luke will serve out the remainder of his sentence — between twenty and twenty two months — at a location that is yet unknown

A heinous miscarriage of justice and abuse of power.

If anyone reading this can help Luke in anyway PLEASE contact the Luke O’Donovan Support Committee. 

Tyler Clementi’s Family REJECTS Dharun Ravi’s Eleventh Hour Apology

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The Associated Press is reporting that Joseph and Jane Clementi, Tyler Clemti’s parents, have released their own statement today, regarding the “after the fact” apology from Dharun Ravi’s two days ago in which he apologizes for his actions which led  Tyler Clementi’s to commit suicide.

From the Associated  Press:

As to the so-called ‘apology,’ it was, of course, no apology at all, but a  public relations piece produced by Mr. Ravi’s advisers only after Judge Berman  scolded Mr. Ravi in open court for his failure to have expressed a word of  remorse or apology.

A sincere apology is personal. Many people convicted of crimes address the  victims and their families in court. Mr. Ravi was given that opportunity but  chose to say nothing. His press release did not mention Tyler or our family, and  it included no words of sincere remorse, compassion or responsibility for the  pain he caused

Ravi checked into a New Brunswick, NJ jail this afternoon to begin his “slap on the wrist” 30-day  sentence while lawyers from both side appeal his sentence.

I just want to go on record here that I AM NOT one of the LGBT community who thought that Dharun Ravi’s should have been shown leniency and still believe he should have received the maximum sentence under the law for his actions which led to Tyler’s suicide, his  perjury within the case, and witness tampering.

His sentence was a grave miscarriage of justice and all that called for leniency for Dharun Ravi’s should be ashamed.

Dharun Ravi Finally Apologizes For His Part In Tyler Clemnti’s Suicide – Sincere or Con?

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Dharun Ravi sat through, pre-trial, trial and sentencing for his part in Tyler Clementi’s suicide showing no remorse and never saying he was sorry.

Now almost a year later, after being given the equivalent of a slap on the wrist for his actions,  Ravi apologized for his actions in the case surrounding Tyler Clementi’s suicide, in  a statement released by his lawyers.

“Last Monday, I was sentenced to 3 years probation, 300 hours of community  service, a fine of more than $10,000.00, and 30 days in jail. Since the  Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office appealed that sentence, the sentence does  not have to start until the appeal is decided. Nevertheless, I decided to accept  and hopefully complete the sentence as soon as possible. It’s the only way I can  go on with my life.

I accept responsibility for and regret my  thoughtless, insensitive, immature, stupid and childish choices that I made on  September 19, 2010 and September 21, 2010. My behavior and actions, which at no  time were motivated by hate, bigotry, prejudice or desire to hurt, humiliate or  embarrass anyone, were nonetheless the wrong choices and decisions. I apologize  to everyone affected by those choices. I am surrendering myself to the Middlesex  County Correctional Facility on Thursday, May 31, 2012, to start my 30-day  period of imprisonment.”

Regardless of Ravi’s “accepting responsibility” Ravi’s lawyers have said they expect to appeal the convictions entirely. They  say that he was not hateful and that authorities charged him with such serious  crimes because of Clementi’s suicide even though he was not charged with the  18-year-old’s death

Is this just a lawyerly boilerplate, paid for by his parents and probably signed  with a certain amount of resigned reluctance, to help his appeal?  The one major point the judge slammed home time and time again was Ravi’s lack of remorse during his sentencing.  Is this just a “con” to help with the appeal and nothing more?

On it’s own  “A day late and a dollar short” doesn’t even begin to describe his lawyers “press release”.

Dharun Ravi Gets Away With Murder – Sentenced To Only 30 Days Jail Time For Tyler Clementi Hate Crime

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In what has to be one of the biggest miscarriages of justice seen in the past decade.

Dharun Ravi who’s spying on his gay roommate’s date using a webcam and then using social media to spread the word about it and in turn lead  to Tyler Clementi committing suicide days later was sentenced to ONLY  30 days in jail.

In addition Ravi was sentenced to a three-year probation period, 300 hrs. of community service hours, counseling on cyber-bullying  and a 10,000.00 assesment to a N.J. state organization dealing with bias crimes.  But no hard jail time.

In March, Ravi was found guilty of a hate crime for using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate Clementi during a sexual liaison with a man identified only as “MB” and announcing what he saw on Twitter.Ravi put out another tweet when he heard Clementi was having a second date with MB.

“I do not believe he hated Tyler Clementi,” Judge Glenn Berman told the court during sentencing. “He had no reason to, but I do believe he acted out of colossal insensitivity.” and even though Bermanlater said “I heard this jury say, ‘guilty’ 288 times–24 questions, 12 jurors. That’s the multiplication,” Berman said. “I haven’t heard you apologize once.” Berman only sentenced him to 30 days in prison out of the maxium 10 years that the charges carried.

During the trail Tyler Clementi said that Ravidecided his son “wasn’t deserving the respect of basic human decency” and “was below him” because Tyler Clementi was gay.

“He did it in a cold calculating manner and then he tried to cover it up,” the father, who had to pause to compose himself, said.

Clementi’s brother, James, told Judge Glenn Berman, “I watched as Dharun slept through court as if it was not worth” paying attention. “I watched Dharun and his lawyers laugh as if it were a private joke.”

Ravi was also convicted and found guily on counts of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, witness tampering and hindering arrest.

And still Judge Berman only sentenced him to 30 days.

The prosecution, indicated it will appeal the judge’s sentence.  As well they should.

It’s a very sad day, one in which justice was not served.