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Misdemeanor Crimes Research Paper

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On Monday, three students from San Jose State University were only charged with a misdemeanor offense after they were accused of putting a bike lock around a black student's neck.

The students, all white males, reportedly also attempted to lock the black student in a closet and called him "three-fifths of a person." The jury concluded that these crimes, among other accusations of harassment from the students, were not hate crimes.

According to Mercury News, the students in question were Joseph "Brett" Bomgardner, 21, Logan Beaschler, 20, and Colin Warren, 20. Each were convicted of a misdemeanor battery after a jury made up of six men and six women were deadlocked as to whether the crimes could be considered ones of hate.

Although the

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