Price Found Guilty of Assault, Not of Hate Crime
EARLIER: Dorm beating defendant testifies: 'I was embarrassed'
A Fulton County Superior Court jury has found former Morehouse student Aaron Price guilty of aggravated assault and aggravated battery in the Nov. 3 beating of fellow student Gregory Love in a dormitory shower.
Later, the jury concluded that the incident was not a hate crime. Attorneys had argued for and against the proposition that the crime was motivated or aggravated by bias against someone thought to be a homosexual.
If the jury had decided the beating was a hate crime, Price could have received an additional five years on his sentence. He could get a maximum sentence of 20 years each for aggravated assault and aggravated battery.
Price expressed no emotion as the gulty verdict was read, but later wiped his face with a handkerchief.
The jury had deliberated for about two hours and 15 minutes in deciding his guilt on the assault and battery counts.
Posted by ronn at June 11, 2003 05:14 PM