Isiah Fowler closer to freedom as deadline for appeal passes

STOCKTON — Isiah Fowler, the Calaveras County teenager convicted three years ago of stabbing his 8year-old sister to death in 2013, has taken another step forward in his fight to be vindicated of committing the shocking crime.

Isiah was 12 years old when he allegedly stabbed Leila Fowler more than 20 times while the rest of his family was away from their home in Valley Springs. Isiah, now 17, always has maintained that his sister was killed by an unknown intruder.

On Feb. 22, the state Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District concluded that two of four interviews Isiah gave law enforcement officials following his sister’s death should have been deemed inadmissible for use in his trial in 2015. That left the state Attorney General’s office 40 days to ask the California Supreme Court to seek an appeal of the state Court of Appeal’s ruling. That deadline passed at midnight Tuesday, the private investigator for Fowler’s defense team said Wednesday.

The investigator, John Kennedy, said the case now returns to the hands of the Calaveras County District Attorney’s office.

Fowler’s attorney, Mark Reichel, previously has said that if the Calaveras D.A. chooses not to continue pursuing the case, his client could be released this month. Calaveras District Attorney Barbara Yook did not respond to an email inquiry Wednesday afternoon.