A Bonita Springs man accused of arranging his wife's murder in 2015 is asking for the judge's private consideration of evidence in his case.
Court records indicate that on Friday, attorneys Megan Montagno, Julissa Fontan and Nicholas Bedy, of the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, filed a motion that seeks the release of all sealed or redacted records in its possession related to the case of Mark Sievers, 55, for the judge's review.
The Capital Collateral Regional Counsel represents Florida inmates who face the death penalty.
The redacted documents include information from the District 21 Medical Examiner's Office; the Lee, Collier and Charlotte county sheriff's offices; and the Florida Department of Corrections.
They're asking that the information be shipped within 30 days to the Lee County clerk's office for Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle's review.
If Kyle determines, after the inspection, that the records are not exempt, Mark Sievers requests the release of those records to his attorneys.
If the court determines any agency or entity’s records are confidential medical, mental health or substance abuse treatment records, Mark Sievers is requesting the release of those records to his attorneys after he completes the paperwork, the motion indicates.
The motion says that failing to release the records would violate Mark Sievers' Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Last month, the state asked for a three-month extension in the release of files including an excess of 80,000 pages of discovery, more than 60 depositions, hours of audio and millions of videos in the case Mark Sievers to the repository of the Secretary of State, which oversees executions. The files include the documents Mark Sievers is asking Kyle to review.
Mark Sievers is on death row, convicted of plotting to murder his wife, Teresa Sievers. His initial death row appeal was denied last year. The Florida Supreme Court later affirmed his convictions.
That extension for the release of the files will allow prosecutors to prepare thousands of documents related to the case, which the Secretary of State will evaluate.
The state has prepared a hard drive that contains all the records to be transmitted, but hasn't reviewed most of the documents to sort, label or categorize, according to the state's previous motion.
On Feb. 10, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the first-degree murder conviction, corresponding death sentence and conviction for conspiracy to commit murder in the case against Mark Sievers.
The state affirmed the charges a week after appointing the Office of the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel Southern Region to handle Sievers' postconviction proceedings.
A jury convicted Sievers on Dec. 4, 2019, in the slaying of Teresa Sievers, a 46-year-old Southwest Florida doctor.
On June 28, 2015, Teresa Sievers left a family vacation and returned alone to her Bonita Springs home.
After she pulled into the garage, retrieved her luggage and walked into the house, Curtis Wayne Wright and Jimmy Ray Rodgersbeat her in the head with hammers.
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Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle sentenced Rodgers to life in prison, convicted of second-degree murder and trespassing by a Lee County jury in October 2019.
On Feb. 10, 2020, Kyle sentenced Wright to 25 years for his role in the murder after he pleaded guilty.
A motion filed Dec. 1, 2022, claimed the court dismissed two 2016 interviews with Wright — a full video and a short excerpted clip, both exhibits in the case. Sievers asked to include an excerpt of a February 2016 meeting where Wright attempts to negotiate terms of a plea deal to spare his wife, who was suspected of being involved.
The exclusion of the "crucial" video evidence violated Sievers’ constitutional rights under the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, the motion argued.
The motion also addressed the exclusion of a neighbor's testimony recounting snippets of an argument she overheard between the Sievers weeks before the murder.
Mark Sievers' defense said the court overlooked the possibility that the jury improperly used the testimony to corroborate Wright's testimony as to Mark Sievers' motivation.
His lawyers said Wright’s testimony alone doesn't satisfy the Constitutional standards to justify Sievers’ conviction and death sentence given the lack of corroboration, the terms of the deal made with Wright, and Wright's alleged propensity to lie to the police and prosecutors.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter forthe Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Twitter@TomasFRoBeltran, Instagram@tomasfrobeltranand Facebook@tomasrodrigueznews.
