Defendants Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen appeared in court together Monday for a rare joint pre-trial hearing.
The two men will receive a second trial as suspects in the 1991 murder of four teenage girls at an "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt" shop in North Austin.
Travis County prosecutors wanted Judge Mike Lynch to rule on a gag order request that would ban defense attorneys from talking about the case to the media.
The defendants objected to the motion.
"My client wants to maintain his freedom of speech and speak through his lawyers. It's the only way he has to share his ideas," Springsteen's attorney Joe James Sawyer said.
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Yogurt shop trial
News 8's Catie Beck reports from the Travis County courthouse.
 
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Lynch said there's no reason for a gag order just yet, but that could change given the high-profile nature of the case.
It was the first time Scott and Springsteen had been in the same room together in seven years. Their lawyers said they were happy to see each other and they still stand behind each other's innocence.
"The one thing that has united those kids from the first day is their maintaining look, [as in] 'I'm sorry. We're not guilty,'" Sawyer said.
Scott's wife Jeanine was also present to see her husband, who remains in the Travis County Jail with Springsteen.
She's not optimistic about the new trial, and said public perception has a lot to do with it.
"I'm hoping this time around that the city's perception is more in the light of justice as opposed to revenge," she said.
State law says Scott and Springsteen can't be tried together, but the judge said he'll try to have joint hearings when he can to expedite the trial.
The next hearing is Nov. 14.
