Judge refuses bond in slaying
Settlement in works after Turner conviction voided
A man whose conviction in the brutal 1995 stabbing death of Midtown resident Emily Klyce Fisher was overturned in October, got a chilly reception Thursday when his attorney asked that a bond be set.
State prosecutors replied that even a $4 million bond would be too low and then Criminal Court Judge W. Otis Higgs Jr. refused to even consider setting a bond for defendant Alfred Turner. “I heard the proof in this case (in 2007) and I may not be the best person to address this issue,” said Higgs, who once called Fisher’s murder the most brutal he had seen in 40 years as a lawyer and judge. “I have my own views on the case. If I even set a bond, it will be an exorbitant amount.
“This case has been going on and on. Work it out so he can go home.”
The hearing was over before Turner’s seat was warm.
Turner, 40, was tried on firstdegree murder charges, but convicted of reduced charges of facilitation of felony murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He has been in jail or prison since his arrest in 2004 and has had one parole hearing.
If he is tried again, he can only be tried for the offense for which he was convicted. Also, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Turner’s sentence should have been 15 years.
State prosecutors Thomas Henderson and Reginald Henderson, no relation, said a settlement offer
has been made to the defendant’s attorney, Blake Ballin.
Neither side would reveal what that offer is, but under any scenario Turner would be eligible for immediate parole on a 15-year sentence, which is the most he could now receive.
“I’m sure the state and the victim’s family are anxious to resolve the matter, as is Mr. Turner,” Ballin said after the hearing. “If we are unable to resolve the matter, then the case will be tried yet again.”
Turner remains in custody and will return to court later this month.
In 1996, two men were tried and acquitted in Fisher’s murder.
The state appellate courts overturned Turner’s conviction, ruling that prosecutors were improperly allowed to tell Turner’s jury of the acquittals after defense attorneys suggested they were the real killers.
Turner, who has no other criminal history, was arrested in 2004 after previously unidentified DNA from crime - scene blood linked him to the case. A codefendant who testified against Turner was sentenced on lesser charges.
Fisher, 52, an accountant who was active in charitable, music and civic organizations, was stabbed more than 50 times on Feb. 27, 1995, in her home on Central near Belvedere.
Her son, Adrian, who later died of a drug overdose, testified in the 1996 trial that he was friends with one defendant and that he felt indirectly responsible for his moth- er’s murder because he had told drug associates of his family’s wealth. — Lawrence Buser:
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