MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW)- Sidney Moorer is scheduled to appear for a pre-trial hearing Monday on charges related to Heather Elvis’ disappearance.
Last month, the solicitor dropped murder charges against Tammy and Sidney Moorer, but the couple still faces a kidnapping charge.
Criminal Defense Attorney Stuart Axelrod says he’s been following the case for years, and he simply doesn’t see how the case can move forward.
“They don’t have a body, they had the murder charge, they dismissed the murder charge, and now they’re going to try to go forward on a kidnapping charge,” said Axelrod.
As Sidney Moorer prepares for his trial, his attorney sent a list of evidence he wants kept out of court.
That list includes communication between the Moorers, staged photographs of the Moorers posing with guns while on vacation, and communication from Tammy Moorer to Heather Elvis and her family.
“There’s nothing that assists the jury. If they have, I think you mentioned there’s some pictures with guns. Because you have a picture of somebody with a gun, does not mean that somebody shot somebody,” said Axelrod.
Sidney’s attorney also asks the kidnapping and obstruction of justice charges not be tried together, any plea deals offered to Moorer made admissible, and to stop the state from using some testimony from Bree Warrellman, a friend of Heather’s who spoke to her before she disappeared.
Criminal defense attorney Stuart Axelrod says all of that evidence will likely be thrown out, and the kidnapping charge will likely be dismissed.
“You have to be able to prove to a jury that somebody was held against their will in a kidnapping case, and it can be ever so slightly, but somebody has to be able to say it or you have a picture of them duct taped to a chair,” said Axelrod.
Friday, Tammy Moorer’s attorney Greg McCollum says he filed a motion under a seal that mirrored the motions submitted to the court by Sidney’s attorney.
The motion would allow Tammy to join into the same motion that was filed for Sidney.
McCollum says the state will likely oppose that, stating there are different issues at hand. He says the judge will likely take up this particular motion first thing Monday in court.
McCollum says he and Tammy will be participating in court unless the judge rules they cannot join into the motion.
Axelrod says he doesn’t believe opposing counsel has any additional evidence against Sidney or Tammy or the Solicitor wouldn’t have dropped the murder charge, and without that evidence, Axelrod says the solicitor doesn’t have a case.
“I feel bad for the family. I lost a child myself. I lost a daughter, and you know you grieve when you lose your child, and it’s sad. It’s sad all the way around, but that doesn’t mean because you’re sad you prosecute people that you don’t have any proof did something,” said Axelrod.
News13 reached out to Solicitor Jimmy Richardson Friday to see what will happen on Monday, but because of the gag order in the case, he said he couldn’t give that information.
News 13 also reached out to Sidney Moorer’s attorney, Kirk Truslow, but at the time of this article, we hadn’t heard back.
Count on News 13 to keep you updated with the latest inside the courtroom on Monday.
