Harold Fish is free and no new trial is planned.

Below is the previous thread from June when the appellate ruling first came out. It appeared that Fish was going to get a new trial, but now he is free and the prosecutor says he won't be retired. But the threat of renewed prosecution will hang over his head for quite a while. Apparently the State AG will not let it go. We'll see what happens.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x235112#235137

Burden of proof should ALWAYS rest on the prosecution. NOT the other way around.

We don't live in a perfect society. From where I am sitting, I think he should have just shot the dogs outright. Of course the unarmed crazy man would have still attacked him. Very bad situation.

Too bad it cost him 3 years of his life.

Good to see that he's out, though he's lost three years.

...existing self-defense laws were adequate, but this case shows how the importance of the state presuming that the individual meets the requirements for the self-defense excuse except when there is clear evidence of the contrary.

he is entitled to some hefty compensation.

It's amazing that some still consider self-defense to be a punishable crime.

I hope they take away his right to a firearm. He might just shoot someone and claim that it was in self defense in the future.

Hopefully, he won't be denied.

I know you support the orginal conviction, but, IMHO, at best it was an ambiguous situation with no overwhelming proof that Fish murdered Kuenzli. I am glad he is free.

In a way, its a shame that he won't be retried so that he can't be aquitted by a jury of his peers.

If Fish stuck to his pattern of defensively shooting brutal ex-rapists, it wouldn't be much of a loss for society.

"The record before this Court is irrefutable regarding the troubled violent history of Grant Kuenzli. Witness after witness, in pretrial motions, and under oath, provided this Court with "specific act" evidence about the character for violence of Grant Kuenzli. The decedent raped and kidnapped X, then threatened her son with death as well as her mother and sister while holding X and her son hostage in their home. The decedent, without any warning, assaulted and strangled Y without provocation and without warning. Y's offense was simply delivering self help materials to X. The decedent was involved in numerous violent or aggressive encounters with former police officers Steve Corich, John Boylan, and Lynn Bray at Mesa Community College. They were so troubled by these actions that they contacted defense counsel after reading news accounts of Kuenzli's death. The decedent had two aggressive confrontations with Placido Garcia who, through affidavit, described his fears to the court. Stephanie Quincy was so terrified of the defendant because of bizarre and threatening behavior over the telephone that she would not meet with him face to face unless he had cleared court security. Judge Clayton Hamblin had a twenty minute encounter in his courtroom that so terrified him that he warned court staff to be beware of Kuenzli and to be cautious of him. The judge feared that the decedent might shoot him through a window connected to his courtroom. Ernie Encinas terminated the decedent from employment at the Gilbert Fire Marshall's office because of repeated violent outbursts with Mr. Encinas, with fellow employees, and with customers of the town. The fear of Kuenzli was so prevalent that the Fire Marshall changed all of their locks at all locations at the request of Kuenzli's fellow employees because of fears that Mr. Kuenzli would return and inflict harm. A mere two weeks before his death, decedent charged Steve James with James observing the same spastic arm movements, the terrifying anger and verbiage, and the irrational behavior that was seen on May 11, 2004. These specific acts were critical to show, on occasion after occasion, that rational people could not reason with Grant Kuenzli, that he had character patterns of uncontrolled violent behavior, and that Kuenzli inflicted terror in the minds and hearts of each of these witnesses because of his unpredictable volatility and patterns of violence and aggression."

I'd like to read the whole thing.

along with his permit to carry.