After the attorney for murder suspect Ralph Fisher attacked the quality of the probable cause affidavit and questioned a newspaper reporter as to the accuracy of a quote in a previously published story, Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed denied all motions pending before him Monday afternoon.

One of the witnesses expected to be called during the hearing instead had his attorney present a motion to quash the subpoena that would have brought him in to testify.

Thomas Leatherman of Goshen, the attorney for Ralph Freddrick "Fred" Fisher, filed a motion in January for dismissal of the murder charge pending against his client, or that Fisher at least be released from custody pending trial because of an alleged violation of Criminal Rule 4, which guarantees a defendant's right to a speedy trial.

Leatherman contends since all of the charges filed, pending or dismissed, against Fisher relate to the same case, and since the initial charges were filed more than a year ago, Fisher should be discharged from custody because of the violation.

Fisher, 47, of Goshen, is accused of murder in the Jan. 15, 2001, shooting death of Kathy Vroman, 48, of Milford. Vroman's body was found in a wooded area near Three Rivers, Mich., several days after she was reported missing and after the investigation turned from missing person to murder. At the origin of the investigation, Fisher's son, Jason Fisher, 23, of Millersburg, was charged with Vroman's murder. That charge remains pending. However, in December, Jason Fisher turned the focus of the investigation on his father when he took a polygraph examination and implicated Ralph Fisher as the shooter.

"Do you remember our conversation that (Kosciusko County Prosecutor Charles) Waggoner was letting the real killer go?" Leatherman asked Milford Town Marshal David Hobbs. Leatherman said this was part of a conversation that took place during the lunch break from a Jan. 29 deposition of Jason Fisher. Hobbs said Leatherman was the one who made the statement and that he did not agree with it.

Autopsy results indicated that Vroman suffered two gunshot wounds to the head and police believe she was killed inside the Country Car Co. in Milford, a business owned by Jason Fisher.

Jason Fisher spent more than 10 months in the Kosciusko County Jail before accusing his father of the murder. He has since been released from incarceration, pending trial. A trial date has not been set.

Since Vroman's death was ruled a homicide, several people were arrested, including the Fishers; Vroman's husband, William Vroman; Lawrence Grant of Shipshewana; and George Aldrich of Etna Green. The latter three were convicted of burglary and theft charges in connection with a December 2000 theft of more than $100,000 worth of vehicles from Rice Ford in Warsaw. Authorities have said that Kathy Vroman's death was connected to an auto theft ring. Grant also was convicted of unlawful movement of a body.

Ralph Fisher was originally charged with assisting a criminal and unlawful movement of a body and later with conspiracy to obstruct justice. All of those charges were subsequently dismissed. Leatherman said certain documents are no longer available that would "firm up" the recently filed alibi defense to be used in this case.

Hobbs testified during Monday's hearing that the probable cause affidavit submitted in the murder case against Ralph Fisher was based upon information he "learned" from his investigation and he was not told by anyone involved in the case that Ralph Fisher committed the murder. The learned information came from the results of a polygraph examination taken by Jason Fisher. Hobbs also compiled information from talking with other police officers involved in the investigation, including officers in Indiana, Florida and Michigan.

Hobbs denied making a statement after Ralph Fisher's arrest to Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reporter Ryan Werbeck, who quoted Hobbs as saying that Jason Fisher's statement would be verified now that Fred Fisher was in custody.

"Don't you think you should have verified Jason Fisher's statement before arresting Fred Fisher?" Leatherman asked.

Hobbs claimed he was misquoted.

Werbeck also reported that Hobbs said, "If we get what we need, it should be self-explanatory," and said he didn't know if he would "get what he wanted."

When Leatherman asked Hobbs what it was that he wanted, Hobbs said, "I'd like to have somebody be a little honest with me and just flat tell me that he killed her."

Leatherman also berated Hobbs' inclusion in the probable cause affidavit that Ralph Fisher helped move Kathy Vroman's body.

"Where does it say in any of the police reports that Fred Fisher helped move the body?" Leatherman asked.

"Physically, I have no evidence that he (Ralph Fisher) touched the body," Hobbs said.

"Is the statement that Fred Fisher helped transport the body true or untrue?" Leatherman asked.

"Untrue," Hobbs said.

"But it's in this affidavit signed by you under oath?" Leatherman asked. Hobbs responded, "Yes."

A licensed polygraph examiner - not the same man who conducted the test with Jason Fisher - also testified at the hearing and offered his opinion on the results of the test. The examiner invoked an attorney-client privilege through his attorney and asked the subpoena ordering him to appear in court and testify be quashed.

Reed granted the request saying, "I'm not satisfied that the privilege has been waived by Jason Fisher or his counsel."

Leatherman has a copy of the polygraph results and said he wasn't sure where the information came from. He believes it was provided to him by Waggoner and not by Jason Fisher or Jason Fisher's attorney, Michael Miner of Warsaw.

"We have to review all this information in a new light," Leatherman said in his argument for Reed to grant his discharge and dismissal motions. "To allow this to keep occurring is just not fair," he said of the changes in the charges against his client. "The state ... just keeps changing their focus."

He said he doesn't know whether the ongoing actions are vindictiveness on the part of Waggoner. "They load up their probable cause affidavit with inaccuracies and try to make it more credible by backing it up with a polygraph," Leatherman said.

Polygraph examinations are not generally admissible as evidence in court unless both sides agreed to the testing prior to its undertaking.

In making his decisions, Reed said, "Where you stand on an issue is often determined by where you sit," and said the probable cause affidavit isn't required to be "beyond a reasonable doubt at this level." He said the document is adequate for moving forward in this case. The trial is set to begin Monday and is expected to take five days to complete.

Waggoner declined to comment on the case because it is too close to trial.

Leatherman was not deterred by Reed's decisions. "Let's start today," he said. "We're ready." [[In-content Ad]]