HARTFORD, Conn. – The case of a white former Connecticut university student accused of smearing body fluids on her black roommate's belongings returns to court.
A pretrial conference is scheduled Tuesday in Hartford Superior Court in the case of 18-year-old Brianna Brochu. The Harwinton resident has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor criminal mischief and breach of peace charges.
Police say the former University of Hartford student wrote on Instagram in October about rubbing used tampons on her roommate's backpack and putting her roommate's toothbrush "where the sun doesn't shine." Her roommate says she developed throat pain.
Representatives of the state NAACP and other civil rights advocates have called on prosecutors to charge Brochu with a hate crime. Her lawyer says the roommates had a falling out and Brochu's actions were not racially motivated.
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