ATHENS, Ala. (WHNT) — Attorneys for Mason Sisk will appear in court on December 1 to argue that he deserves a new trial on the capital murder charges he was convicted of in April.

Sisk, who was 14 at the time he was arrested for killing five of his family members, including his three young siblings at their Elkmont home, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In court filings, Sisk’s attorneys contend that rulings about what evidence would be admitted, or not, by Limestone County Circuit Judge Chad Wise prevented him from getting a fair trial.

Sisk’s attorneys’ arguments for him being granted a new trial can be seen below:

• The judge should have allowed the defense to present evidence about alternative suspects, including Sisk’s uncle, and also evidence on family history issues, including Sisk’s father’s doubts about paternity for one of Mason’s siblings;
  
• The judge should have allowed the defense to present testimony from an expert on coercive interrogation. The defense wanted to show how Limestone County Sheriff’s Office investigators could have manipulated the 14-year-old suspect into a confession;
  
• The statements Sisk made to investigators should have been suppressed because he was handcuffed and occasionally questioned for more than an hour without being read his rights. The defense also points out Sisk was left alone in then-Sheriff Mike Blakely’s truck – with the sheriff – for an extended period with no known recording of what they discussed.
   

Prosecutors argued he was angry with his parents and stole a gun from a family friend’s home that he then used in the shootings.

The defense argues prosecutors should not have been allowed to use text messages about the killings that Sisk sent from jail. The defense stated that he was too young to consent to the texting service contract and was not clearly told the messages would be given to the prosecution.

Sisk will turn 19 on Christmas Day.