New trial date chosen for Mason Sisk following mistrial
LIMESTONE Co., Ala. (WAFF) - A new trial date has been selected for the trial of an Elkmont teen who is accused of murdering five of his family members.
On Sept. 19, a mistrial was called after the discovery of additional evidence. Court documents show that the new trial date is set for Feb. 13 at 9 a.m.
Court documents show that the mistrial was declared after learning of evidence found after the FBI was able to unlock Mary Sisk’s phone Wednesday.
With the mistrial, both the prosecution and defense will be given time to look into the new evidence. In the court documents, the judge ordered that John Sisk’s phone be made available to the defense within 21 days.
The judge also ruled that any new motions from the defense or the prosecution must be made prior to the first day of Dec. A pretrial conference will be held on Jan. 31 at 1:30 and the judge has ruled that the defendant and all counsel must be at the conference.
Court documents show that the defense’s motion for an invited mistrial was not granted.
Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones says they sent Mary and John Sisk’s phones to the FBI to try and unlock them in 2019. Federal investigators unlocked the phone on Wednesday, the third day of the trial. Jones says it could take two to 26 years to break open the phones.
Last week, the defense team also argued for a mistrial after learning that the prosecution was trying to introduce new evidence as the FBI attempted to gain access to John and Mary Sisk’s phones. The judge determined that at this time, a mistrial would not be called but if exculpatory evidence is found there would be.
Last week, the prosecution presented its case against Mason Sisk and wrapped it up on Friday, Sept. 16.
The prosecution called multiple witnesses to the stand over the course of the last week including family friends of the Sisk family. As well as law enforcement that was on the scene the night of the alleged murders.
On Friday, the prosecution called Jamie King, a special agent with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) to the stand. King was with the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office prior to joining ALEA and was the person who found the gun.
In the video, Mason Sisk told Blakely that he did not want the children to grow up in an abusive environment as he had.
As the sixth day of the trial began, the defense continued attempting to make the case for exculpatory evidence. The prosecution and the judge reviewed the information for the first hour Monday while the jury waited outside.
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