A trial involving five former Orange County Sheriff’s Department higher-ups who allege that they were wrongly fired after being unfairly tied to the regime of disgraced former Sheriff Mike Carona will be on hold until mid-August, when Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is expected to continue her testimony.

Following two days of testimony by Hutchens, a scheduling conflict prevented her from returning to court on Thursday. Meanwhile, scheduling conflicts involving the judge and attorneys involved in the high-profile wrongful termination case have led to the multi-week delay.

The non-jury trial will resume Aug. 18.

Former assistant sheriffs Jack Anderson and John Davis, along with former captains Brian Cossairt, Deana Bergquist and Robert Eason, are seeking reinstatement and, combined, millions in damages after they allege that they were targeted for dismissal during a large round of layoffs in 2009. They question why the holdover command staff members from the Carona era were let go, while newly hired officials brought in by Hutchens remained.

Hutchens testified this week that she was forced by a $29 million budget deficit to let go of command staff members to avoid laying off rank-and-file deputies and investigators. The sheriff explained that she chose which department leaders to lay off based on which specific departments could be either combined or led by someone with a lower rank.

A county official, along with two of the former higher-ups involved in the lawsuit, testified on Thursday in the Santa Ana courtroom of Orange County Superior Court Judge Frederick P. Aguirre.