Though Ole Miss recently settled a case with former coach Houston Nutt and is only awaiting the NCAA’s decision in a case involving several alleged violations, one case continues to drag on for the Rebels.

However, the case took a step forward on Friday, as Judge John Kelly Luther denied Mississippi State players Leo Lewis and Kobe Jones’s motion to sever from one another and change venues.

According to a statement from Judge Luther obtained by The Clarion-Ledger, Luther said the cases have been properly joined:

“This court finds defendants Jones and Lewis have been properly joined under Rule 20(a) as the relief asserted against these defendants arises from the same transaction, occurrence, or same series of transactions or occurrences, and common questions or law or fact to all parties will arise in action,” Luther’s ruling stated.

The matter is far from over, though, as Jones’ attorney, Chris Shapely, plans to appeal Judge Luther’s decision to the Mississippi Supreme Court:

“We respectfully disagree with the Court’s decision and believe it is inconsistent with well established Mississippi law,” he said in a statement to The Clarion-Ledger. “We will appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court as soon as possible.”

How long the appeals process will take remains to be seen, but it doesn’t appear anything will be decided in this case for a long time yet.