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Timeline of remainder of Mark Sievers trial coming into focus

Posted at 7:23 AM, Nov 27, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-27 07:23:36-05

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- We know three witnesses will take the stand for the state Wednesday in the trial of Mark Sievers. It's unclear who exactly will take the stand, but we're starting to get an understanding of the timeline left in this case.

First, some background for you. The state says Mark Sievers hired Curtis Wright and Jimmy Rodgers to murder his wife, Dr. Teresa Sievers in their Bonita Springs home in 2015.

Rodgers was convicted of second degree murder last month. Wright took a plea deal in the case. He's expected to get 25 years in prison.

In all, six witnesses took the stand for the state Tuesday, finishing in less than three hours. Most were Lee County Sheriff's Office investigators or forensic technicians who mostly broke down the information about surveillance videos of Rodgers and Wright in Florida, and the GPS the pair used to get to Bonita Springs during their road trip from Missouri.

Their goal is to help the jury understand all of these pieces of evidence, and how the state says they link Mark Sievers to the murder of his wife.

As far as when the state will rest their case, it could be as early as Monday. The prosecutors say they have five witnesses lined up for that morning, then they are done laying out their evidence.

The defense plans to start presenting their case Tuesday, and Mark Sievers' attorney says they will be bringing a key witness back to the stand.

"I do plan on recalling Curtis Wright," said defense attorney Michael Mummert. "I do anticipate that these witnesses, we'll go through them relatively quickly."

Curtis Wright is really the state's biggest witness, tying Mark Sievers to the murder of Teresa.

So we talked to a legal expert, Pam Seay, about what the defense's strategy could be here.

"We've heard some other testimony already about Mr. Wright's short-term memory problems. And I think the defense needs to hammer on that. They need to drill that down and say this is a problem. How can you say you remember these things when you really don't, and how can we say your information now is accurate when you haven't been accurate all along?"

She says the defense will really take this time to focus on the amount of times Wright has admitted to lying to investigators. He says he previously lied to protect himself, Mark Sievers, and Jimmy Rodgers.

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