Sidney and Tammy Moorer cases to be heard by different judges, SC Supreme Court ruling says
CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – The cases of Sidney and Tammy Moorer will be heard by different judges, according to a ruling by South Carolina’s Supreme Court.
The state’s Supreme Court rejected Horry County prosecution’s effort to have both Heather Elvis kidnapping suspects seen by one judge. Tammy Moorer is scheduled to go to trial next week in connection with the kidnapping charges.
Tammy and her husband Sidney Moorer are accused of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap in the case of missing woman Heather Elvis. Elvis, who was 20-years-old at the time of her disappearance, has been missing since Dec. 18, 2013. Elvis’ body was never found but her car was seemingly abandoned at Peachtree boat landing in the Socastee area.
The Moorers were originally charged with murder and spent nearly a year in jail before bond was set at $100,000. Prosecutors eventually dropped the murder charges. Sidney Moorer was tried for kidnapping in 2016, but the trial ended in a hung jury. His case has not been retired and a future date has not been set.
Sidney Moorer was tried and found guilty of obstruction of justice after the prosecution showed he intentionally misled police officers during the initial investigation surrounding Heather Elvis’ disappearance.
Sidney and Tammy Moorer were both indicted by a grand jury in April for conspiracy to kidnap. While the indictments do not specify a victim, the conspiracy accusation stems from the day Elvis went missing.
Supreme Court Justice Donald Beatty denied the request from the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office to move all the Moorers’ proceedings to one judge. The judge’s ruling notes the cases should be handled in "ordinary fashion" for Horry County General Session cases:
"The State has filed an Expedited Motion to Consolidate Jurisdiction of All Pending Indictments in a Single Judge or in the Alternative for Cases to be Handled by the Fifteenth Circuit Chief Administrative Judge of General Sessions. This motions is denied, and these cases should be handled in the ordinary fashion currently in place in Horry County for General Sessions matters. Nothing in this Order prevents the joinder of some or all of these charges in a single trial as to either or both defendants before The Honorable R. Markley Dennis, Jr., subject to the normal rules."
Tammy Moorer’s kidnapping trial is set to begin Oct. 8.
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