CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – A pre-trial motions hearing related to the Heather Elvis kidnapping case was held Wednesday, but offered little change to the pending trials for Tammy and Sidney Moorer.

Tammy Moorer, charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap, was in the courtroom Wednesday, but her husband, Sidney Moorer, facing the same charges, is currently in jail. Sidney Moorer was sentenced to 10 years in prison in August 2017 for an obstruction charge. The jury found that Sidney intentionally lied to police, stalling the investigation into the December 2013 disappearance of Heather Elvis.

In court Wednesday, however, the focus was on Tammy, and a lot of motion presenting by the prosecution and defense.

The state asked Judge Benjamin Culbertson to lift the gag order, but Culbertson said because he was not the judge who put the gag order into play, he had no jurisdiction to remove it.

In a lengthy exchange, the state attempted to convince Judge Culbertson the Moorers should be tried jointly.

The state, led by Nancy Livesay, 15th Circuit Senior Assistant Solicitor, argued her reasoning to have Sidney and Tammy Moorer tried together. According to Livesay, the cases for the two accused kidnappers require testimony from the same witnesses, so to avoid having the witnesses – some from out of state – come to court twice, the Moorer’s should be tried together.

Judge Culbertson said if the state wanted a joint trial, Livesay should have made a motion to try the Moorer’s together before Sidney Moorer’s first kidnapping trial, which ended in a hung jury. However, the state still has a shot at having the trials merged. Livesay and her team are awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Court that will decide if Tammy and Sidney Moorer can be tried together. The Supreme Court isn’t back in session until Sept. 17.

Tammy Moorer’s defense team presented a number of motions, including having the charges severed, a request for a change of venue for the trial, and a motion to suppress statements Tammy Moorer made about Heather Elvis or statements about the Elvis family made during phone calls or on social media.

Judge Culbertson denied all motions except the suppressed statements motion, saying he would hold on making that decision and would continue the motion.

As it stands now, Tammy Moorer will go to trial Oct. 8 in Horry County. No date has been set for Sidney Moorer’s trial.