The courtroom was silent, except for the sounds of camera shutters, as the verdicts were read. It was mixed, but mostly confirmed the charges against Dharun Ravi, stemming from the webcam spying incident involving his roommate Tyler Clementi in 2010.

Ravi was rushed out of the courtroom after the verdict. Gone was the smile he’d exhibited through much of the trial. He left the courthouse, along with his attorneys and family members, making no comment.

In a press conference downstairs, the Clementi family, who’d been in the courtroom every day, addressed the media. Tyler’s father, Joe, read from a prepared statement. He said the trial was painful for all of them, but that it had changed the focus of their lives. He called on young people everywhere to stand up to bullies and those who would try to marginalize anyone who was different.

Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan called this a victory and said the jury did a good job, ignoring the emotions surrounding the case. “The facts and the evidence and the law showed that Tyler Clementi and MB were the victims of invasion of privacy and the facts and the evidence and the law showed that Tyler was targeted because of his sexuality. Regardless of public opinion, regardless of personal opinion we were required to follow the law and the facts in this case and that’s what we did.”

First Assistant Prosecutor Julia McClure said her case was made stronger by the wealth of evidence left over from text messages and posts on various social networking sites, which proved quite damning to the defense. “I think it certainly would have been more difficult but I don’t know that without them we couldn’t have proceeded but I think it would have been a more difficult challenge without some of that evidence that we had.”

Reporting from Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick, NJToday’s David Cruz has been following this story throughout the day.

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Many observers questioned whether this case would have even gone to trial had not Tyler Clementi committed suicide as a result of the invasion of his privacy. The prosecutor expressed confidence that he would have brought the case.

“The way that I viewed this case is under the facts of this case and if these facts ever came up again, and whether the victim had committed suicide … we would prosecute this case again and any future cases where this occurred,” said Kaplan.