MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – After a mistrial was declared in the Sidney Moorer kidnapping case, jurors were discharged and instructed they could now speak about the case. One juror did just that.
As jurors filed out of the courthouse, many opted to avoid the media cameras and voiced a quick “no comment” before scurrying past the parade of reporters. One juror, however, took time to stop and address how the twelve jury members simply could not come to a unanimous decision.
“If we were not doing a trial on circumstantial evidence, it would have been a much more way for us to sink our teeth into and come up with a proper verdict,” the juror explained. “But because of the fact there were so many what-ifs, ‘what if this happened,’ ‘what if that happened,’ and things of that nature, we were hopelessly deadlocked.”
The juror explained that when they first reported to Judge Markley Dennis that they could not reach a unanimous decision, and the judge asked them to deliberate longer, nothing changed. He says after another hour of talking the case over, no one changed their stance on whether they believed Sidney Moorer was guilty of kidnapping Heather Elvis.
The vote was deadlocked at 10 guilty votes and two not guilty votes, according to the juror.
The second time the jury told the judge they could not reach a decision, a mistrial was declared.
If the prosecution opts to retry Sidney Moorer in the kidnapping of Heather Elvis, a new jury will be selected and the prosecution and defense will present their cases to those 12 new jurors.