SAN DIEGO -- New counsel may be brought in on the case involving five young men charged with murder in the beating death of a professional surfer in La Jolla, and attorneys are considering a possible settlement, an attorney for one of the accused said Tuesday.

Judge John Einhorn postponed a scheduled Superior Court arraignment until June 27 for Seth Cravens, Orlando Osuna, Hank Hendricks, Matthew Yanke and Eric House, who were ordered last month to stand trial on a second-degree murder charge in the death last year of 24-year-old Emery Kauanui.

Outside the courtroom, Cravens' attorney, Mary Ellen Attridge, said the judge granted the continuance because new attorneys could be substituted in on the case, or current counsel may try to settle it.

Attridge said settling the matter would save the taxpayers money.

Status conferences were scheduled for June 16 and June 23.

Einhorn also modified conditions for Yanke's bail, allowing him to travel from San Diego to Santa Barbara this weekend.

"Don't screw up, OK?" the judge told Yanke.

Yanke, House, Osuna and Hendricks are all free after posting bail. Cravens remains in custody in lieu of $1.5 million bail.

After an eight-day preliminary hearing last month, Einhorn held the defendants to answer to the second-degree murder charge, but ruled they were not members of a gang called the Bird Rock Bandits.

The judge also ordered Cravens to trial on charges of making a criminal threat, battery and assault causing great bodily injury in connection with a series of separate attacks dating back to 2004.

Einhorn also found that Osuna, Yanke and Hendricks should stand trial in connection with previous assaults.

Cravens, 22; Osuna, 23; Yanke, 21; House, 21; and Hendricks, 22, all face a maximum of 15 years to life in prison if convicted.

Einhorn said he was bothered by the fact that the case was initially filed as a murder case against Cravens, Osuna, Yanke and House, but the additional assault charges were added after witnesses told authorities that the defendants were part of a gang.

Hendricks, a former La Jolla High and University of New Hampshire quarterback, was charged several months later, after he told police what he saw the night of the fight.

Einhorn said the defendants had known each other since elementary school and shared a social and athletic bond rather than a bond to take over Bird Rock.

Despite their "questionable adult views" on drinking, crashing parties and getting into fights, the defendants were not part of a gang, Einhorn said.

Prosecutor Sophia Roach said the assault on Kauanui was a group attack in which each defendant aided one another in order to ensure victory for their gang. Roach has said her office would review the case and consider if any enhancements or charges should be re-filed.

She alleged that Kauanui was beaten on May 24, 2007, at the direction of Cravens, who encouraged House to fight the surfer after he victim spilled or poured a drink on House at a nearby bar.

Prosecutors theorize that once House and Kauanui squared off in a one-on-one fight, Cravens, Yanke, Osuna and Hendricks joined in hitting and kicking the victim while he was on the ground.

Defense attorneys said none of their clients kicked or beat Kauanui after he was on the ground, as alleged by prosecutors.

The prosecution alleges Cravens sucker-punched Kauanui in the chin when he got up, knocking him out and causing him to fall back and hit his head on the pavement.

Kauanui was placed on life-support and died four days later at a hospital from brain injuries.