Fisher's trial on assault charge set for April

Aaron Fisher will stand trial for allegedly assaulting a 5-month-old girl in 2009.

During a hearing Friday at the Laclede County Courthouse, 26th Judicial Circuit Judge Peggy Richardson denied three motions to dismiss the assault charge against Fisher.

On Nov. 16, 2016, Miller County Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Winfrey filed a new felony assault charge against Fisher for the alleged attack on his then 5-month-old daughter.

A Sept. 8 probable cause statement reported Fisher had allegedly admitted to Miller County law enforcement officers he sodomized the infant and also said the infant "wouldn't stop crying after he sodomized her, so he hit her in the head with his fist as hard as he could." The statement also said Fisher allegedly told investigators he wanted the infant to die.

Fisher was originally arrested and charged with two counts of statutory sodomy on Oct. 28, 2009. He spent six years in the Miller County Jail waiting for trial in the original case. After Miller County Circuit Judges Stan Moore and Kenny Hayden recused themselves from the case, the Missouri Supreme Court in January 2015 named Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce to be the special judge in the case. The case was dismissed with prejudice Oct. 27, 2015, for violating the defendant's speedy trial rights.

The state appealed the case's dismissal, with the Western District Court of Appeals taking up the case and upholding the trial court's order to
dismiss it with prejudice, according to court documents. The Court of Appeals ruling was appealed Dec. 7.

On Jan. 16, defense attorney Kimberly Kollmeyer filed motions to dismiss for violation of the double jeopardy clause, the right to speedy trial and "res judicata," as the original case dealing with forcible sodomy previously had been dismissed, in the current case. These filings came along with a motion for bond reduction and motion for speedy trial.

According to court documents, Kollmeyer said Fisher's constitutional right against double jeopardy, the violation of his constitutional rights, and for res judicata due to the dismissal with prejudice of the previous cause of action are reasons for the motions to dismiss Fisher's current case.

Fisher was charged previously in Miller County based on the same circumstances as the current case, including probable cause statements from both cases as exhibits, Kollmeyer explained in court documents relating to the motions to dismiss.

On Nov. 4, 2009, the state filed an amended complaint, charging two counts of forcible sodomy, abuse of a child and class A felony assault in the first degree. On June 1, 2010, information was filed for only two counts of forcible sodomy, with amended information filed for only two counts of forcible sodomy on July 28, 2014, according to court documents.

Kollmeyer's motion to dismiss on violation of speedy trial right references the proceedings that took place in the original case, as well as six-year jail time awaiting trial and dismissal of the case after the court found Fisher's motion for a speedy trial violated. She cited other court rulings and examples within the original case to support issues with length of delay and reason for the delay, defendant's assertion of his right and prejudices to the defendant in the court document.

However, at the Friday hearing, Richardson denied the motions to dismiss for violation of double jeopardy clause, violation of speedy trial right and res judicata.

The motion for reduction of bond was heard at the hearing Friday. The mother of the infant was present and made a statement about Fisher. Richardson also denied bond reduction, keeping his bond at $100,000.

Richardson also heard the motion for a speedy trial. She ordered a three-day trial to begin April 10 at the Laclede County Courthouse. A pre-trial conference is set for March 20, with jury instructions to be filed by April 7, and the clerk asked to summon 100 jurors.