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Carbondale landlord granted continuance in sexual assault case
After being found guilty of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child by a Williamson County jury May 16, Carbondale landlord Henry Fisher learned Wednesday at a motion hearing that he may be able to present his case to another jury.
Judge William H. Wilson granted Fisher's defense attorneys a continuance to file a motion for mistrial after they said they learned Tuesday evening that the jury may have received extraneous information during the trial.
Fisher, the owner of Home Rentals and one of Carbondale's largest property owners, was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in her Herrin home during January 2001. If the conviction stands, Fisher would face six to 30 years in prison. The Wednesday hearing was originally scheduled as Fisher's sentencing date.
Defense attorney Randy Patchett, who works for the law office of Richard E. White, said a member of the jury that found Fisher guilty said a male juror watched a TV news brief concerning Fisher during the trial. Patchett said the juror shared the information from the TV news report with the rest of the jury.
Fisher's defense attorneys said because they have recently heard about the possibility of the jury hearing improper information, they have not had enough time to provide any written evidence. Patchett said a continuance is necessary in order to have more time to collect evidence from the jury.
The defense said the jury also received irrelevant information in the courtroom when Williamson County State's Attorney Charles Garnati made a comment about how much Fisher is paying his attorneys. Patchett said Garnati implied to the jurors that Fisher is forced to hire high-class attorneys because he is guilty.
Garnati said he strongly objects to the continuance because the defense had at least 45 days to provide evidence to file a motion for mistrial. He said he finds it outrageous that the defense would use "yet another delaying tactic at the last minute."
Defense attorney William Schroeder said the defense would probably get the motion for mistrial on file within four to five days. Schroeder also said it would take two to three weeks to compile all the necessary evidence from the jurors.
Garnati said he will file a motion to make the defense pay the cost of travel for a witness who came from Georgia to testify in court Wednesday.
Fisher's next hearing date is still pending. He remains in the Williamson County Jail in Marion.
