Protective order in murder trial
Judge grants motion in favor of key witness injured in brutal attack.
STUART — Martin County Judge Lawrence Mirman on Monday granted a protective order filed on behalf of a key witness in the double-murder trial of Austin Harrouff.
Jeffrey Fisher sustained significant injuries — including a fractured skull and bleeding around the brain — on Aug. 15, 2016, when Harrouff allegedly attacked him after he came to the defense of John Stevens III and Michelle Mishcon, his neighbors in southern Martin County.
Harrouff, then a 19-year-old Jupiter resident, is accused of fatally stabbing Stevens and Mishcon in the garage and driveway of their Southeast Kokomo Lane home. Authorities found him biting Stevens’ face. Harrouff ’s lawyers have filed a notice of intent for an insanity defense.
Fisher’s lawyer, Dean Willbur, argued Monday that his client’s injuries make him a victim under Florida law and that the court should limit the way attorneys for Harrouff can question him about the attack. Specifically, Fisher has asked that only one defense attorney be allowed to question him, instead of the three who questioned his father last year.
“Whether intended or not, when multiple attorneys are allowed to question the same witness, the procedure becomes by its very nature both harassing and oppressive,” his lawyers said.
Mirman ruled that the questioning of Fisher for a scheduled August deposition be limited to one defense attorney. However, the judge would not restrict the ability of other members of Harrouff ’s defense team to ask questions, saying that Fisher might be “the key witness in the case.”
Mirman said he would allow other attorneys to submit questions in writing and cautioned that the ruling could result in the deposition being taken over multiple days.
“This is way beyond any case that I would consider restrictions,” Mirman said.
Willbur filed the motion in June after defense attorneys Nellie King, Robert J. Watson and Jordan Showe questioned Fisher’s father, Stephen, during a deposition in May 2017. Stephen Fisher had arrived at the crime scene that night to find his son bleeding profusely.
In the motion and in court Monday afternoon, Willbur argued that the line of questioning was “repetitive” and “redundant”and he argued that similar questioning could be traumatic for Fisher.
“My client almost lost his life in this attack,” Willbur told the court Monday, adding that Fisher is still recovering emotionally from the nearly 2-year-old incident.
“This is a traumatic time for him,” Willbur said.
Neither Jeffrey nor Stephen
Fisher attended Monday’s hearing. Harrouff, who faces an attempted murder charge for his alleged attack on Fisher, sat quietly next to defense attorneys Watson and King.
Harrouff’s attorneys argued that the protective order was unnecessary and noted that there had been no objections raised during the deposition of the elder Fisher.
“This was a deposition that was taken by lawyers who could not have been more polite,” Watson said.
Watson said the defense intends to videotape the younger Fisher’s deposition to ensure that there are no concerns about the actions of defense attorneys.
Mirman said he had listened to a recording of the deposition and had not noticed any wrongdoing by Harrouff ’s attorneys.
The deposition for Jeffrey Fisher is scheduled for Aug. 9.