Ronald Coleman: Man faces charges in the 1998 fatal robbery of Sam's Club. SPECIAL

Senior Judge Bernard J. Mulherin Sr. has ruled that when the trial begins Sept. 24 in Richmond County Superior Court, all seven defendants will sit together, although only two are accused in the Sam's Club fatal robbery, and one is not accused of taking part in either homicide case.

Ronald Coleman Jr., 29, and Carlston W. Coleman, 30 - along with David Easterling, who has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify for the prosecution - were named in a January indictment as the suspects in the June 21, 1998, kidnapping, armed robbery, hijacking and burglary of Mr. Holt, 45. The highly publicized slaying remained unsolved even with a $400,000 reward offer for information.

''It's really a brief order,'' based on arguments of counsel last week, District Attorney Danny Craig said of the judge's ruling, issued Friday while the judge was out of state.

Defense attorneys did not want this arrangement and argued last week that it would be unfair to join all seven people at trial when the charges they face are so different.

A jury hearing details of the homicide cases would not be able to separate those allegations from others, they said.

The district attorney, however, has maintained that a jury will be able to do just that.

The trial might take several weeks, said Mr. Craig, who expects to call 115 to 140 witnesses. Although he refused to say how many witnesses or how much evidence is related just to Mr. Holt's death, defense attorneys said last week that 3,000 of the 5,000 pages about the evidence relates just to Mr. Holt's slaying.

Judge Mulherin, who as a senior judge is semiretired and presides over cases on a volunteer basis, began last month to work out the logistics of the trial. Courtroom renovations to accommodate seven defendants, seven defense lawyers, and 12 jurors and eight alternates already have begun.

In April, a subsequent indictment was issued by a Richmond County grand jury that restated the charges against the two Mr. Colemans and included a racketeering allegation that named six others.

The two Mr. Colemans, who are not related, Laverne Ellis, 29, Kendric Dudley, 30, Ronnie B. Overton Jr., 22, Jarman L. Harold, 24, and Charles D. Winters, 28, have pleaded innocent. An eighth person named in the indictment - known only by the alias John Lamar Travis - has not been apprehended.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations count accused the men named in the indictment of participating in the July 24, 1997, slayings of Ryan J. Sigh, 21, and Manuel B. Arroyo, 19. The young men's remains were discovered in a burning car on Otis Jones Road in Warren County.

The RICO count accuses Ms. Ellis only of fraud and theft, alleging she assisted Carlston Coleman and others of stealing from Sam's Club where she worked as a cashier.

The RICO charge also includes these charges:

Federal income tax fraud: The two Mr. Colemans have already been convicted of that charge in U.S. District Court.

Thefts: Ronald Coleman and Mr. Harold have convictions for theft by receiving and possession of stolen vehicles.

Counterfeiting: The two Mr. Colemans and Mr. Harold were allegedly present when Carlston Coleman's McDowell Street home was searched by agents looking for counterfeited cash.

Forgery: Investigators contend Ronald Coleman fled from a vehicle after a traffic stop that allegedly resulted in the recovery of stolen checks and phony identification documents.

Fictitious checks: Ronald Coleman was charged but never convicted in Macon in what investigators there say was a conspiracy to pass numerous fake payroll checks.

Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or shodson@augustachronicle.com.