Bench trials for two former Athens High School students and a Toney woman arrested following an April 10 ruckus at Athens High School have been moved to Aug. 15, court records show.

The trials are now set for 9 a.m. in Athens Municipal Court before Judge Donald Mansell. Mansell made the request to move the bench trials previously set for July 18, records show.

The three arrested in the fracas at the school include 39-year-old Amanda Loggins of 27691 Saddle Trail, 18-year-old Gabrielle Kirby of 1009 Sixth Ave., Athens, and 18-year-old Makaleb Boykin of 612 N. Hine St., Athens. They are each charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors.

All three of the accused have retained Birmingham attorney Richard Rice to represent them. Attorney Lucas Beaty will be the city prosecutor. Athens Municipal Court is held at Athens Police Department on Hobbs Street.

In municipal court, a defendant can request a bench trial before a judge, but there is no jury. In order to get a jury trial, a defendant in a municipal court case sometimes agrees to only the basic facts of the case and is found guilty by the municipal court judge. The defendant can then appeal the conviction to the trial court — in this case the Limestone County Circuit Court — and request a jury trial.

The incident

Loggins, Kirby and Boykin were arrested and charged following a fracas at AHS.

Kirby and Boykin had been indefinitely suspended April 9 after an incident in a classroom, the details of which school officials have not revealed. The following day, the students’ parents came to the high school to talk to officials about what happened the day before. Loggins, who is Kirby’s mother, was asked to leave the school but school officials said she then returned to the school in an attempt to incite violence. A brief scuffle between a police officer and a few student and parents, or other relatives, ensued. The fight was recorded on cellphones and went viral.

The suspension of Kirby and Boykin prevented them from attending prom and the May 23 commencement ceremonies, something to which they and their parents objected. The day before graduation, the SPLC filed a lawsuit against Athens City Schools over its unwillingness to relent and let the students participate. No hearing was held, however, and the Limestone County NAACP held a separate graduation ceremony for Kirby and Boykin.

Kirby and Boykin were also being represented by attorneys with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which was working to correct their student records after their suspensions.