Two jurors say they faced harassment inside the jury room and following the trial of Sidney Moore for his alleged role in the Heather Elvis kidnapping.
One juror reported they faced harassment and intimidation from other jurors as they deliberated Moorer’s guilt. That trial ended in a mistrial.
Another juror reported threats and harassment — mostly on social media — after the trial.
Defense attorneys for Tammy Moorer used the jurors’ statements during a Wednesday court hearing as they argued that Tammy’s trial should be moved from Horry County. Judge Benjamin Culbertson rejected that effort.
The cases of Tammy and Sidney Moorer, her husband, have drawn interest across the country. The duo is accused of kidnapping and conspiracy in the case of Heather Elvis, who was 20 years old when she vanished Dec. 18, 2013, and has not been found. Her car was discovered at Peachtree boat landing in Socastee.
Both Moorers were charged with kidnapping and murder in the initial case. Prosecutors eventually dropped the murder charges. Sidney Moorer went to trial on the kidnapping charge in 2016, but a jury deadlocked.
That case has not been retried and remains active.
He was found guilty last year of obstructing the police investigation. Judge R. Markley Dennis, who was appointed to hear the case, sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
In April, a grand jury indicted both Sidney and Tammy Moorer for conspiracy to kidnap. The most recent indictments do not name Elvis as the victim, but say the Moorers conspired on the day Elvis disappeared.
Judge Culbertson previously set an Oct. 8 trial date for Tammy Moorer. But that date is in question as the parties await a state’s Supreme Court order as to whether Tammy’s and Sidney’s cases will be joined together under the same judge.
A ruling assigning the cases to the same judge could cause trial delays.
Judge Culbertson also Rejected an effort by Tammy Moorer’s attorneys for separate trials — one for the kidnapping charge and one for the conspiracy charge. Senior Assistant Solicitor Nancy Livesay argued for one trial and said both charges stem from the same event.
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