Mason Sisk, the teen charged with killing five of his family members in 2019, was back in court Friday afternoon. Sisk’s previous trial in September was declared a mistrial by Circuit Court Judge Chadwick Wise after the phone of Mary Sisk, the slain stepmother of the accused, was unlocked by the FBI as the trial was under way.

The defense filed a motion January 20, 2023, to “compel production of entire export file from the cellular phone of mark Sisk.” In the motion the defense stated that the hard drive delivered to them from the State “did not contain the complete file where the extraction of the data was performed.”

In Friday’s hearing, LCSO Investigator Lt. Johnny Morrell explained the means in which the files were extracted, and Sisk’s defense team was satisfied that they had received the entirety of the contents of Mary Sisk’s phone.

The defense had also argued that admissions and statements Mason Sisk made at the scene of the murders of his stepmother, Mary; father, John Sisk; and three young siblings should be inadmissible, as he had not been read his Miranda rights. On March 2, 2023, Judge Wise denied the defense’s Motion to Suppress.

Judge Wise has yet to rule on the eligibility of Dr. Jeffrey Neuschatz as an expert witness for the defense. The defense hopes to call Dr. Neuschatz as an expert in the field of cognitive psychology and confessions.

The re-trial of Sisk is scheduled to begin April 17, 2023.