Roommate charged with hate crime

TRENTON, N.J. - A former Rutgers University freshman was indicted Wednesday on a hate crime charge after allegedly using a webcam to spy on a same-sex encounter involving his roommate, who committed suicide shortly afterward in a case that started a national conversation on bullying. A 15-count indictment was handed up Wednesday by a Middlesex County grand jury against Dharun Ravi, of Plainsboro, who had already faced invasion of privacy charges along with another student, Molly Wei Wei. The indictment charges Ravi with bias intimidation, invasion of privacy, witness and evidence tampering, and other charges stemming from the suicide of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi in September. The indictment said charges against Wei Wei would not be presented to the grand jury "at this time." Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River shortly after authorities say Ravi and Wei Wei used a webcam to peek at his liaison. Lawyers for Ravi say the webcam stream was viewed on only a single computer and did not show the men having sex. President Barack Obama has talked publicly about his death and said that young gays and lesbians need to know that life gets better.- BETH DeFALCO