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Two Marines were ordered Friday to stand trial on charges of attempted murder and committing a hate crime against a gay man by beating him.

Steven Fair, 26, and David Bell, 20, who both served in Operation Desert Shield but came back here before the war started, were told to appear Oct. 21 for the scheduling of a trial. All charges were dismissed against a third co-defendant, Jeffery Davis, 20, after the prosecutor said there was no evidence against him that could be allowed in court.

Fair and Bell also will be tried on assault and robbery charges in the July 31 attack on Samuel Anker, 38, in a Coronado alley.

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During the preliminary hearing Friday, Anker testified that he remembered drinking with Marines in a Coronado bar that night and mentioning that he was gay. He said he could not remember the beating.

Anker was initially hospitalized in critical condition and underwent brain surgery to stop swelling in his head. He lost his spleen, his kidneys were bruised, apparently from being kicked, and he spent three weeks in the hospital.

Both men remain in County Jail on $100,000 bail.

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