Amherst New York Police Hand Over Jamey Rodemeyer Computer And Cell Phone To Forensic Lab To Help Establish Pattern Of Bullying

The Amherst New York Police have turned over Jamey Rodemeyer's computer and cell phone to a forensic lab to help try to establish a pattern of bullying that ultimately may warrant aggravated harassment and hate crime charges in the coming weeks, reports The Buffalo News. "Jamey can't talk to us anymore," said Police Chief John Askey this afternoon during an investigation update. "Hopefully, his computer can." Meanwhile, he said, police have determined that many recent allegations of bullying, directed toward Jamey, and later his sister Alyssa, do not yet, on their own, rise to the level of criminal actions. He added that, to date, the Williamsville School District appears to have only one documented case of bullying involving Jamey, and that dates back to his time as a seventh-grader at Heim Middle School. Disciplinary action was taken in that case. Askey, however, said police are continuing to investigate and seek first-hand witnesses who may have more information helpful to the case. While single incidents at school or online may not rise to the level of "unlawful behaviour," police want to determine if there was a pattern of conduct online and/or at school that could lead to prosecutable charges, Askey said. Having evidence collected from Jamey's electronic devices will help with that, Askey said. He added that it appears that hateful comments on his online accounts began appearing in late 2010 after he "declared his sexual orientation,” and that "We're looking at less than a half dozen people over the span of his time at Heim and North High School." Most recently, Alyssa and others at Williamsville North reported that at a homecoming dance on September 22, a student in the company of a small group of other students stated that she was glad Jamey was dead, touching off brief hostilities in the school parking lot. Police said that while there's credible evidence that the incident did occur, the statement was not made in a direct confrontation with Alyssa and could not be considered a criminal offense. School officials previously said a student has been suspended in relation to the incident. "The comments were inappropriate and vile and are certainly relevant to the larger investigation of incidents involving Jamey," he said. Police also are looking into three unconfirmed reports of bullying that allegedly occurred at Williamsville North. One in particular, as previously reported by The News, involved Jamey's own account of having a plate of brownies spit on and then given to him in the cafeteria. After speaking with witnesses of the incident, Askey said, Jamey and his friends appear to have inferred behaviour that was not actually seen."We can't say that those brownies were spit on, or that anything unlawful happened," the police chief said. Askey said it's apparent that Jamey, who at various points identified himself as either bisexual or gay, lived much of his life online, through accounts with Facebook, Formspring, Tumblr, Twitter and possibly other social networking sites. The chief said he hopes to have at least some preliminary information on this case back from the computer forensic lab within a week or so. He also said the Rodemeyer family has been very understanding of the Police Department's efforts over the past two weeks. "I know the public wants -- and the Rodemeyer family wants -- this done right," he said. "They want us to do this correctly, not quickly."