B.J. Averell '02 continued his one-man battle against Delta Airlines, entering a plea of 'not guilty' at his arraignment yesterday morning.

Averell was arrested last Wednesday for trespassing and disorderly conduct when he attempted to board a Delta Express plane even after being turned away at the gate.

Despite Averell's plea, the state has not dropped the charges against him and has set a pretrial hearing date for Jan. 7.

"There is no basis to proceed against B.J.," said R. Tod Cronan, Averell's lawyer. "We have given our information to the District Attorney, who should come to the same conclusion."

The information Cronan has given the District Attorney challenges Delta's version of the events.

According to Cronan, Averell arrived at the airport 45 minutes before the departure of his 6:15 p.m. flight from Boston home to Philadelphia.

When he reached the check-in gate approximately 25 minutes before the scheduled take-off, Averell was "summarily told that his seat had been given away," Cronan continued. "They told him that the best they could do would be to seat him standby on Thanksgiving day."

Delta officials counter that Averell was in fact late for his flight.