In wake of pretrial publicity surrounding the case of Jamesine Fischer, attorney Josh Alexander has requested that her trial be moved to Putnam County.

“The tenor of the pre-trial publicity has been such that it unfairly and incorrectly implies the defendant’s guilt in this case,” Alexander wrote in a court motion filed Nov. 28. 

Fischer is charged with hitting Francoise Pecqueur while driving in November 2011 and leaving the scene of the accident. Pecqueur, who was on foot, later died as result of the crash.

Fischer called 911 nearly 12 hours after the crash and said she thought she’d hit a dog. 

Fischer, the wife of Flagler County School Board member John Fischer, pled not guilty to the felony charge against her.

Fischer said she stopped immediately after and saw a woman lying in the street, but saw no dog and left. It wasn’t until she got to her neighbor’s house that she noticed her windshield was shattered, she told dispatchers.

With his motion to move the trial, Alexander included two sworn affidavits from Flagler County residents who said they had read newspaper accounts of Fischer’s case and did not believe she would receive a fair trial in Flagler County.

Alexander filed two other motions last week, which request that the court limit the testimonies of John Fischer and Flagler County Sheriff Donald Fleming during trial.

John Fischer spoke to Fleming the day after the crash, giving the sheriff details he’d heard from his wife. Since John Fischer was not a witness to the crash, Alexander argued, any statements he made about its nature would qualify as hearsay.

The motions asked to prohibit prosecuting attorneys from asking John Fischer about statements his wife made to him about the scene and from questioning Fleming about any statements that originally came from Jamesine Fischer.

A pre-trial hearing is set for Jan. 9 before Circuit Judge John Walsh.

+ Kolb’s laundering charges consolidated 

Charges against Devin Kolb have been reduced from three counts of money laundering in an amount greater than $100,0000 to one count of the same charge.

Because all of the defendant’s transactions happened wtihin one year, state law requires that charges be consolidated.

Kolb was arrested Nov. 14. She is charged in association with Anthony Fregenti and a Ponzi scheme centered on Black Hawk Enterprises Inc., a fictious entity. Fregenti was arrested in October and is awaiting trial.

 

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