By Mariela Gonzalez KTRE-9
Published: Mar. 17, 2025 at 6:51 PM CDT|Updated: 31 minutes ago
POLK COUNTY, Texas (KTRE) – Defense lawyers asked a Polk County judge to consider a dismissal Monday in the case of a Lufkin man beaten to death on Alabama-Coushatta land.
In April of 2016, Spencer Sadler, 28, of Livingston was found dead on the Alabama-Coushatta reservation in Polk County. Authorities there arrested 23-year-old Matthew Battise and charged him with manslaughter.
Battise’s original trial for second degree manslaughter was declared a mistrial in 2019, after defense attorneys raised concerns over the prosecutor’s pre-trial discovery regarding one of the witnesses.
The case was then set to be retried.
Michael Davis, Battise’s former attorney, took the stand Monday in Polk County’s Judge John Wells’ courtroom.
Davis was questioned by both the defense and state before Battise’s attorneys asked for the case to be dismissed over what they called procedural errors.
Authorities have not discussed any potential motive in the killing.
The nearly decade-long ordeal has been painful to Sadler’s family who says they are still seeking justice.
“We’re just in limbo. I mean, we see his daughter all the time. She was in first grade then, and now she’s a sophomore. It’s just watching her, knowing he’s not here to watch her,” said Debra Sadler, Spencer’s mother.
“It’s frustrating, you know,” William Sadler, Spencer’s father added. “You’ll come up here every two months for another trial appearance, and sometimes he doesn’t even go to judge. They just hand a piece of paper to him and goes out the door.”
The Polk County district attorney said it will be two to three weeks to get a ruling from the judge.
