I was the trial attorney who represented Harold Fish. Contrary to the suggestion that the jury was not educated on self defense training, a nationally recognized expert, Michael Anthony, of Phoenix testified. The jury knew that FIsh had received extensive self defense training. Fish followed his training. The travesty of this case came as result of shocking rulings from the court. We were not allowed to tell the jury about prior dog attacks. We were not allowed to provide specific information about prior deadly attacks by the decedent. We were not allowed to talk about the psychiatric condiction of the decedent, who had several suicide attempts, and who had been hospitalized for his psychiatric conditions. The decedent, a homeless man, lived in the woods. He suffered from PTSD, Agrophoebia, and a number of severe debilitating problems. Judges, retired police officers, lawyers and other citizens were denied any ability to discuss terrifying events that they had encountered with decedent Kuenzli. One was choked and thought he would die.
A woman and her son were held hostage and threatened with death. None of this information of violence was provided to the jury. The conviction and sentencing were a complete travesty of justice. An appellate court will some day reverse this conviction. In the meantime, the defendant, a father of 7, will be taken from his home. It should be noted that the NRA defense fund did provide some financial assistance.
