A preliminary hearing for a father and son accused of a hate crime for beating an African-American woman outside a Turlock bar has been rescheduled for July.

Eddie Taylor Jr. and Eddie Taylor Sr. are facing charges of felony battery likely to cause serious bodily injury and felony assault likely to cause great bodily injury. They’re also charged with a misdemeanor charge of battery for an injury to a Latino man who tried to intervene in the fight and was injured. The charges also carry a special allegation that the battery was carried out against the victim because of race, religion, gender, etc., according to court records.

Both men have entered not guilty pleas to the charges against them and denied the special allegation. They remain free on bail.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred on Dec. 23, 2013, outside of Staley’s Club at 426 E. Main St.

The father and son were charged in January 2014 and since then several preliminary hearings have been set and then rescheduled. The two men have a pretrial hearing set for July 9 and a preliminary hearing set to start July 30 in Stanislaus county Superior Court.

According to the court records, the victim was outside the bar and passed by a group of men, one of whom made a comment asking why “colored people” were allowed in the bar. The victim confronted the men about the offensive comment and then walked away. She told the police later that she went off to smoke a cigarette when she was punched in the head by a white man.

According to the Turlock Police Department report she was hit and kicked repeatedly, causing her to lose consciousness and sustain serious injuries which required hospitalization.

During the assault a Latino man came out of the bar looking for someone. When the man saw the attack he tried to stop it and protect the woman and was assaulted allegedly by the men, sustaining a gash over his eye, according to court records.

The men reportedly left the area before law enforcement arrived, but a description of their vehicle was given and located a short distance away from the scene. The Taylors were identified as the attackers, according to the police report.

During a bail review hearing the defense attorneys for the two men argued their arrest was a case of mistaken identity and that while they were at the bar, they were not responsible for the assault, according to court records. They also argued the woman was the aggressor in the incident and had to be escorted out of the bar.

While in custody in the patrol car, the Taylors are said to have used derogatory racial remarks in reference to the victim and made statements about being part of the Hells Angels. At the time of his arrest Eddie Taylor Jr.’s Facebook page listed an association with the Denair White Boys Inc., a reported street gang.

Eddie Taylor Sr. has a prior offense for voluntary manslaughter from a Merced County conviction in 1980 that could be used against him in sentencing if he is convicted on the current charges, according to the criminal complaint filed by the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.