Jan 08, 2014 11:25 AM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

One of the four San Jose State University students charged with committing hate crimes against his fellow black roommate has pled not guilty to the misdemeanor charges, which include battery.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Logan Beaschler, 18, of Bakersfield, is suspected to have led the hazing against the young black man. Also charged are Joseph Bomgardner, 19, of Clovis, Colin Warren, 18, of Woodacre, and an unidentified juvenile.

If convicted, Beaschler could spend a year in county jail, but the other three have yet to enter their pleas.

The SJMN reported police and school documents show the hazing to have started last fall in a campus dorm room suite.

It began with the four young white men nicknaming the young black man "Three-fifths" and "Fraction" as a reference to the nation's era of slavery and segregation. The four students also displayed a Confederate flag in the suite's living room, wrote racial slurs on a commonplace whiteboard and even chained him by the neck with a U-shaped bicycle lock.

Chuck Mesirow, Beaschler's attorney, requested his client's $15,000 be waived, releasing him on his own recognizance, but was denied. The other three have been released on the same bond, although the juvenile's records are sealed.

Merisow included his client is expected to be expelled from the school, meaning he cannot enroll in any California state school. He also said Beaschler is not a racist, nor does he come from a home with such views.

"I'm not defending these insensitive, stupid acts by immature young men,'' Merisow said. "But I don't think anyone (who knows Beaschler) thinks my client was racist.''

According to Reuters, the victim's parents complained to the school in Nov. when they visited him in his dorm and learned of the hazing. Once the news became public, community members held demonstrations to show their outrage for the allegations of hate crimes. The NAACP called for the accused to be charged with felonies and the school's president Mohammad Qayoumi said publicly that he and the administration "failed" to protect the victim.

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