The four St. Joseph County Democrats charged with forgery and petition fraud linked to the 2008 presidential primaries were in court on Monday morning.

All four defendants appeared before a St. Joseph County judge for a status hearing.

Former County Democratic Chair Butch Morgan is charged with conspiracy to commit petition fraud and conspiracy to commit forgery.

The three co-defendants, Pam Brunette, Dustin Blythe, and Beverly Shelton, who are all facing felony forgery charges, also appeared.

The four are accused of forging signatures to get Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton placed on Indiana ballots.

The judge granted a motion to have a handwriting analyst examine signatures on petitions.

Bonds were also reduced for all four.

The next court date was set for August 27.