( CNN ) -- A Louisiana appeals court ruled it was too early to consider a motion to release a black teenager who allegedly took part in beating up a white classmate in Jena , Louisiana , last year . Mychal Bell , 17 , is accused with five others of severely beating Justin Barker in a school fight . The Tuesday ruling is the latest turn in the racially charged saga of a group known as the Jena 6 -- six black teens initially charged with attempted murder after they allegedly knocked out classmate Justin Barker and stomped him during a school fight . Five of the teens were charged as adults . Civil rights groups and other organizations have marshaled thousands of people to march on Jena on Thursday , a day originally slated for 17-year-old Mychal Bell 's sentencing hearing on battery and conspiracy convictions . However , a district judge earlier this month tossed out Bell 's conviction for conspiracy to commit second-degree battery , saying the matter should have been handled in the juvenile court . On Friday , the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Lake Charles , Louisiana , did the same with Bell 's battery conviction . A three-judge panel ruled Tuesday , however , that it would not consider a motion to free Bell from prison . `` The motion for release from custody , filed by the defendant in this court , is premature , '' the panel ruled without setting a date for considering the motion . The future of Bell 's case is up to the district attorney , who must decide whether to refile the charges in juvenile court , Bell 's attorney Bob Noel said last week . Charges against four of the teens -- Bell , Carwin Jones , Theodore Shaw and Robert Bailey -- have been reduced to battery and conspiracy . Shaw and Jones have not gone to trial . Bailey has pleaded not guilty to the charges and his trial is scheduled for November 26 . Bryant Purvis and an unidentified juvenile remain charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder . Advocates of the Jena 6 say the story began well before the December 4 beating . They say it began in September when three white students decided to hang nooses from a tree on campus . In September 2006 , a black student asked the vice principal if he and some friends could sit under an oak tree where white students typically congregated . Told by the vice principal they could sit wherever they pleased , the student and his pals sat under the sprawling branches of the shade tree in the campus courtyard . The next day , students arrived at school to find three nooses hanging from those branches . According to The Town Talk in nearby Alexandria , the school 's principal recommended expulsion for those behind the nooses . Instead , the newspaper reported , a school district committee suspended three white students for three days for hanging the nooses , a gesture written off as a `` prank . '' Racial tensions flared . The district attorney was summoned to address the student body . Off-campus fights were reported . On November 30 , someone torched the school 's main academic building . The arson remains unsolved , but many suspect it was linked to the discord . Four days after the arson , several students jumped Barker , knocking him unconscious before stomping and kicking him . Parents of the Jena 6 say they heard Barker was hurling racial epithets . Barker 's parents insist he did nothing to provoke the beating . Barker was taken to a hospital with injuries to both eyes and ears as well as cuts . His right eye had blood clots , said his mother , Kelli Barker . He was treated and released that day . Bails for the Jena 6 were set at between $ 70,000 and $ 138,000 . All but Bell posted bond . The judge has refused to lower his $ 90,000 bail , citing Bell 's criminal record , which includes four juvenile offenses -- two simple battery charges among them . E-mail to a friend .
Thousands expected to march in Jena on Thursday to protest charges . Appeals court does not set a date for hearing a motion to release Mychal Bell . The case has drawn national attention and sparked protests across the country. Tension at Jena High flared when white students hung nooses from campus tree .