CLEMENTS TRIAL UPDATE: Joni Clements Pled for Her Life

PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Testimony continued this morning in the James Clements trial with Robert Sybert taking the stand.  Attorneys for Sybert tried to discredit his testimony and guilty plea by suggesting that he didn’t fully understand the deal he made with the district attorney’s office for a 30 year sentence in exchange for his truthful testimony.  Sybert added that he is illiterate and can’t read.  Sybert testified that Clements wanted him to kill Clements’ wife and daughter.  James Clements is on trial for murder for the death of his wife, Joni Clements.

Defense attorneys motioned for a mistrial following after hearing a recorded phone conversation and testimony from Lead Investigator, Detective Mark Wright.  They insisted that Wright tried to get Clements to incriminate himself and that Wright was trying to shift the burden of the investigation from police to Clements when Wright knew Clements was a suspect at the time.  The defense attorney told the judge this violated Clements’ constitutional rights.  The DA argued that the recording showed that Clements had talked to Sybert and that Clements was truthful.  The judge agreed and dismissed the defense motion.

Robert Sybert’s son, Richard Sybert, who is also on trial for murder, took the stand this afternoon.  He told jurors that his family had discussed killing Joni several times and that the murder was pre-meditated.  He explained through tears that Joni pled for her life.  41NBC’s Jasmine Williams is in court and will have updates later on 41NBC.com.