VIDALIA — A new trial date has been set for the three men charged in connection with the 2010 murder of a 25-year-old Ferriday man.

Seventh Judicial District Judge Kathy Johnson set the new date for a trial by jury for Aug. 29 for Bryant Lakeith Bethley, 126 Lee Tyler Road, Daniel Durans Butler, 359 Doty Road, and Reginald Butler, 359 Doty Road.

A pretrial conference is also scheduled for Aug. 3.

Before the date was set, a motion to sever defendants Daniel Butler and Bethley from having the same trial was also requested.

Attorneys for both men had previously requested that they be tried separately, with Johnson ruling that they be tried together.

Daniel Butler’s attorney Madaline Gibbs brought forth the request again Wednesday, citing numerous reasons why her client deserved a separate trial from Bethley.

Gibbs cited that Daniel’s testimony would be antagonistic to Bethley’s, and that trying them together could cause damage to Bethley’s case.

Bethley’s attorney Derrick Carson agreed with Gibbs, saying that an antagonistic testimony was not in the best interest of his client.

Assistant District Attorney Ann Siddall cited the case of Louisiana v. Bradford in her attempts to thwart the defense’s argument.

Siddall said the case ruled that in order to sever to defendants from having the same trial, a mere allegation during a testimony does not suffice.

Gibbs also stated that her client has a constitutional right to a trial by jury, and that if the two men have the same jury, Daniel Butler may be looked at differently by the jury based on what Bethley says.

Gibbs also said by having the two men tried together, anything Bethley admits to or is convicted of might fall onto Daniel Butler, because the jury tends to view things in a “guilty by association” standpoint.

Carson also pointed out that having the same jury try the two men would complicate the case because jurors would have a lot of information and evidence for one suspect that doesn’t apply to the other.

“It always helps to simplify things to make things more rational for the jurors,” he said.

Siddall said the D.A.’s office does not want to try the cases separately because they do not want to have to present the same evidence to a new jury.

“You are looking at a two-or three-day trial anyway,” she said.

Carson suggested that Daniel Butler film an on-camera interview giving a brief summary of what all he was going to say during his testimony, so that the court is able to see what allegations toward Bethley would arise.

Johnson agreed and Daniel Butler’s statement was reviewed during a brief recess.

After the recess, Johnson ruled that two men would be tried together.

Reginald Butler will face trial alone, because he was the alleged driver of the vehicle that fled the scene after the incident and not involved in the shooting.

Daniel Butler, Reginald Butler and Bethley were all charged with second-degree murder at their arraignment June 2. Daniel Butler was also charged with obstruction of justice.

Andreas Marquez Cauley, the fourth suspect in the case, was also indicted on charges of obstruction of justice.

All four men were arrested in connection to the shooting on the 800 block of Alabama Avenue that left 25-year-old Reginald Green dead.

Green was sitting in a parked SUV with three other people at the time of the shooting. While he was shot repeatedly in the head and torso with a .223-caliber rifle, the others in the vehicle were uninjured.

Bethley is believed to be the gunman in the incident, and Daniel Butler and Reginald Butler — who are brothers — were allegedly in the vehicle in which Bethley fled the scene, according to Ferriday Police investigators.

Cauley allegedly threw the gun used in the killing into Black Bayou, but agents with the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries later recovered it.