ATLANTA -- A Fulton County jury sentenced a former Morehouse College student to serve 10 years in prison after it convicted him in the baseball beating attack on his dormitory mate but exonerated him on charges that the attack was a hate crime.

The Fulton County Superior Court jurors convicted Aaron Price, 19, on both charges of aggravated assault and aggravated battery after deliberating for slightly more than an hour. Each count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. He was ordered to serve 10 years after being found guilty on both counts. However, the charges will be served concurrently.

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Because Fulton prosecutors tried the case as a hate crime, the judge could have added on an additional five years to Price's sentence for aggravated assault if he was convicted, unless he was given the maximum penalty of 20 years. The law also requires those convicted to serve 90 percent of their sentences.

But he will not face those additional penalties after jurors decided that the incident was not a hate crime. The phase to determine if the assault was a hate crime began immediately after jurors convicted Price on the assault charges.

During Wednesday's closing arguments, prosecutors sought to portray the incident as an unprovoked attack.

Said Assistant District Attorney Kellie Hill: "You may not like the way they look at you, you may not feel comfortable with they way they look at you, but you can not, can not leave, get a bat and come back and beat them in the head because they looked at you."

But the defense said Love was sexually intimidating and Price wanted to show that he would not be threatened by Love. Defense lawyer Tony Axam also told jurors that prosecutors did not show malicious intent during the incident.

Love testified during the trial's first day that he mistakenly looked into Price's shower stall because he wasn't wearing his glasses and he thought his roommate was in the stall. During his testimony, Love told the jury that that Price grew angry after Love looked into the shower. The beating followed an angry tirade, Love testified.

In his testimony, Price said that he intended only to use the bat to scare Love and that Love escalated the incident. Price denied using homosexual slurs, as alleged by Love. The defendant also testified that he felt threatened by Love because he is much taller than Price.

Price has been expelled from the school.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Jeff Dore contributed to this report.