Bench trials for two former Athens High School students and a Toney woman arrested following an April 10 fight at Athens High School have been moved to Oct. 17, court records show.

The three are facing misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, including 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.

Their trials are now set for 9 a.m. before Judge Donald Mansell in Athens Municipal Court, which is located at Athens Police Department on Hobbs Street.

Birmingham attorney Richard Rice, who is defending the three, asked the court to reschedule the bench trials, which were previously set for July 18 and Aug. 15, records show. Electronic court records available to The News Courier did not indicate why Rice made the request, but it is not uncommon to do so.

Attorney Lucas Beaty will be the city prosecutor.

Those listed so far as witnesses in the case include Athens Police Officers Terry Casey and Randy Vickers, Athens Police Sgt. Brett Constable, Athens High School Vice Principal Willie Moore, Gabrielle Kirby, Gerry Kirby and Kirby Williams, who is listed as a parent or guardian.

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. If 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 fracas

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 security video shows 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, posted to social media and went viral.

The suspension of Kirby and Boykin prevented them from attending prom and the May 23 commencement ceremonies, 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 before commencement, however, and the Limestone County NAACP held a separate graduation ceremony for Kirby and Boykin.

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