HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – The man accused in the disappearance of Heather Elvis will once again face a jury in September.
Judge Markley Dennis announced the decision Friday morning in a pretrial hearing. The retrial will take place in Horry County instead of Georgetown County.
In the pretrial hearing, Sidney Moorer’s defense team tried to suppress any testimony that indicated Elvis was pregnant at the time of her December 2013 disappearance. Dennis, however, denied the motion.
Dennis also approved a questionnaire be submitted to the jury, so long as both the prosecution and the defense agree on the questions.
The defense also asked to terminate discovery and limit it when it comes to new evidence presented in the case. The judge also denied that motion.
That was one of the most positive takeaways of the hearing for Heather Elvis’ sister, Morgan Elvis.
“That he wasn’t going to discontinue discovery is so important, because in a missing persons case, you don’t stop looking," Morgan Elvis said. "You don’t stop adding discovery. You don’t stop hoping that someone’s going to come forward and say, ‘I saw something.’”
“That he wasn’t going to discontinue discovery is so important, because in a missing persons case, you don’t stop looking," Morgan Elvis said. "You don’t stop adding discovery. You don’t stop hoping that someone’s going to come forward and say, ‘I saw something.’”
Knowing when the trial will be held is a huge relief for the Elvis family.
“It’s been five-and-a-half years," Heather’s father, Terry Elvis, said. "Three more months? It’ll go by fast.”
The defense wanted the prosecution to reveal how much money they spent on having expert witnesses testify during Tammy Moorer’s kidnapping trial, but Dennis also denied that motion.
A mistrial was declared in Sidney Moorer’s original 2016 kidnapping trial.
In August 2017, Moorer was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of obstruction of justice for impeding the investigation into Elvis’ disappearance.
Last year, a jury convicted Moorer’s wife, Tammy Moorer, of kidnapping Elvis. She is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence.
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