The billboards, which rest along a rural road on the side of the Houstons' property, have offended some residents and law enforcement officials who believe the photos are insensitive and too graphic for passers-by, including school children.
“To see anybody, let alone someone that you knew, someone who wears the same uniform and does the same job as you, it’s really disturbing to see that, whether it’s on a billboard or whether it’s on the Internet. It’s awful," Chief Deputy Tim Phillips told WATE-TV.
But legally, the Houstons can display the photos, which became a matter of public record during their trials, District Attorney Russell Johnson said.
“It goes without saying that any public display on their own property of these photos, in whatever manner by the Houstons, is despicable and certainly runs counter to the Houstons’ claims of innocence,” Johnson said.
Rocky Houston, a former security guard for the U.S. Department of Energy in Oak Ridge, Tenn., said the signs won't come down.
He accuses law enforcement officials of trying to plot to kill him and his brother.
“We are trying to report federal crimes, and we feel like our plea has fallen on deaf ears,” Houston told the News Sentinel. “We’re praying President Barack Obama will turn toward East Tennessee. I’m preparing a package for him right now.”
Rocky and Leon Houston maintain that Bill Jones and Mike Brown had come to kill them in 2006. Prosecutors said they were there to serve a warrant to Houston.
The brothers faced three criminal trials in connection with the crime.
Rocky Houston's trial ended in a split verdict in 2008, but a mistrial wasn't declared. An appeals court later said he couldn't be tried again.
Leon Houston was found not guilty in 2009.
A Cumberland County jury in April found the Houstons liable for Brown’s death and awarded Brown’s parents $5.45 million in wrongful-death damages. The brothers have said they won't pay, the News Sentinel reported.