Rendevous arson trial postponed until June 8

The trial of John Deville on arson charges involving the fire that destroyed the Rondevous Dinner Club last year has been postponed until June 8, in order for court documents to be finalized.
The seven Rendevous employees left the building before the fire was seen spreading from the rear of the building. A passing motirist saw the fire shortly before midnight on July 20, 2013. Twenty-three Ville Platte fire fighters responded to the alarm.
Deville, the owner of the Rendevous Dinner Club, was in Maryland when the fire burned the Rendevous to the ground.
Deville turned himself in to authorities in early November 2013, about two hours before having a bond hearing, when a judge reduced his bond from $200,000 to $75,000.
Eric Johnson, identified by investigators as the former Rendevous manager, has been in jail since being arrested on August 25, 2013. He is charged with criminal conspiracy, arson with intent to defraud and obstruction of justice. Johnson also is charged with injury by arson.
The investigation into the Rendevous fire took investigators from the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office to a bayou in a remote area of northeast Evangeline Parish in Sepotember 2013, just below a spillway next to Bayou Toureau Road. There, a remote sensing boat operated by St. Landry Sheriff’s Office deputies swept the bayou for evidence investigators believed had been dumped there.
If convicted, Johnson could face more than $50,000 in fines and more than 50 years in prison.
Deville faces $20,000 or more in fines and 10 to 15 years in prison, if convicted.