Lawyer accused of murder to be released from jail

PHOENIX (AP) - A California divorce lawyer accused of murder in Arizona is expected to be released from jail now that his case has been dismissed.

The release of 54-year-old Robert Fischer of Irvine will come about 10 days after a judge ruled that the case’s evidence didn’t support a guilty verdict against Fischer, prompting her to throw out the jury’s decision and order a new trial. Fischer should be released late Monday or sometime Tuesday.

Dwane Cates, an attorney for Fischer, said the judge’s Feb. 28 ruling is extraordinarily rare. “This is akin to hitting the lottery,” Cates said.

Prosecutors now have 20 days to file their appeal, said Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Fischer.

Nearly three months ago, Fischer was convicted of second-degree murder in the December 2010 shooting death of his stepdaughter’s husband, 49-year-old Norman “Lee” Radder, at the home of Radder and his family in Queen Creek, southeast of Phoenix. Fischer was visiting the family when Radder died of a single shot from Fischer’s handgun into Radder’s right eye after an evening of drinking.

Authorities contend Radder’s death was staged as a suicide. Fischer’s attorney, however, has suggested Radder was suicidal, saying he was experiencing financial and marital difficulties.

While the judge granted a new trial based on the case’s evidence, she rejected a separate request by Fischer’s attorney for a new trial on the grounds that a prosecutor committed misconduct in presenting his case.

Fischer’s attorney had alleged the prosecutor prejudiced his client by posing a question to an investigator who told jurors that none of the people he interviewed said Radder was suicidal, even though the judge had previously ruled that no one could give opinions on Radder’s propensity for suicide.

The County Attorney’s Office said the prosecutorial misconduct allegations were meritless and the investigator’s single mention of Radder’s lack of suicidal tendencies was unintentional and didn’t constitute misconduct.