THIBODAUX -- A local man accused of killing a priest more than 15 years ago has a new court date that is expected to determine whether the case will be heard in juvenile or adult court.

Abby Tabor / Houma Courier

Derrick Odomes is escorted into the Lafourche Parish Courthouse Wednesday afternoon in Thibodaux. Odomes is accused of killing the Rev. Hunter Horgan of St. John’s Episcopal Church in 1992.

District Judge John LeBlanc scheduled Derrick Odomes to appear for a hearing March 26, at which time the judge will likely decide how the first-degree murder case will proceed. Immediately afterward, a pre-trial conference will be held to discuss motions.

Odomes, 29, is accused of killing the Rev. Hunter Horgan inside the rectory of St. John Episcopal Church on Aug. 13, 1992. Odomes was 14 when Horgan was killed.

If convicted as a juvenile, Odomes faces up to seven years in prison, because Louisiana law did not allow 14-year-olds to be tried as adults for murder or other serious charges at the time of Horgan’s death.

By contrast, he could face life in prison if he’s tried as an adult and convicted.

The gap in time between Horgan’s death and Odomes’ Sept. 18 arrest makes this case a first of its kind in Louisiana, District Attorney Cam Morvant II said.

"Nobody has dealt with it before," Morvant said. "This is all completely new."

Morvant and Assistant District Attorney Stephen Caillouet are handling the case.

Due to Odomes’ age when the alleged crime occurred, defense attorney Lynden Burten said he should be tried in juvenile court. The lawyer plans to file a motion to quash, or void, his client’s indictment.

"The law in Louisiana says that anyone under 15 that is accused of committing murder cannot have their trial in adult court," the New Iberia-based defense attorney said in a Wednesday interview.

The prosecution disputes this, but is not revealing how they plan to convince the judge to try Odomes as an adult.

Juvenile proceedings are closed to the public, meaning a trial before a juvenile judge would be conducted in secret. That would result in a bar to the victim’s family, as well as the general public.

Sentencing Odomes to no more than seven years if convicted is rooted in a basic provision of the Constitution that bans the enacting of "ex post facto" laws.

The phrase is Latin and means, literally, "something done after." Under the ex post facto principal, laws that add severity to punishment can only apply to crimes committed after the law change was enacted. They cannot be made retroactive.