Fisher back in custody

OLSON — Two days after being set free in a trial that lacked the state’s key witness, Nathan Fisher allegedly committed one of the same crimes of which he’d just been exonerated.

The 23-year-old man is back in Lake County Jail and held on $100,000 bond after an arrest Oct. 13 that charged him with assault with a weapon, a felony.

According to a criminal affidavit, Fisher visited the Polson home of Randall Michel on Oct. 7, two days after his release. Fisher asked Michel if he “was the person who had implicated Fisher in the stabbing of Magnus Harlow in Pablo,” an incident that occurred in August that Fisher is suspected of committing, but has yet to be charged in connection with.

When Michel finally got Fisher to leave his home, the documents allege that Fisher returned to the residence with a pump shotgun and continued to berate Michel about the incident before hitting the man in the face with the shotgun, breaking his nose in the process.

The alleged assault is the third time in 10 months Fisher has been implicated in a violent felony assault in Lake County. He was not charged after the August stabbing of Harlow, but his alleged role was enough for the county to revoke his release after a May mistrial in relation to a third alleged assault.

Fisher’s release from jail came Oct. 5 after he faced two felony charges of assault with a weapon and felony aggravated assault stemming from a January 28 incident during which Fisher allegedly stabbed victim Cody McKay 17 times. Deputy county attorney Cory Allen argued that Fisher served as the aggressor in the case while public defender Steve Eschenbacher maintained that Fisher had reacted in self-defense. Allen said he was “extremely surprised and disappointed” over the results, but said a missing key witness hurt his case.

“The victim (McKay) did not appear to testify,” Allen said. “The state doesn’t need to provide a victim but we were confident the jury would acquit without the victim’s testimony. If [McKay] had come, I think we would’ve gotten a conviction.”

The Oct. 4-5 trial marked the second time Fisher appeared before a jury of his peers. In late May, charges were dismissed without prejudice — meaning charges could be re-filed — after a hung jury resulted in a mistrial. Fisher was released on his own recognizance, with stipulations, but an arrest warrant was issued in August after prosecutor Cory Allen determined Fisher had violated the terms of his release by allegedly stabbing Harlow with a five-inch blade.

Fisher was arrested on the afternoon of Aug. 19 in a residence at 111 3rd. Ave. East in Polson. Fisher was led out of the home, literally two blocks from the county courthouse, at gunpoint in relation to his alleged involvement in the stabbing on Aug. 11. The owner of the home, Cecilia Basilio, was charged for harboring the wanted man.

While charges have yet to be filed in relation to that incident, Allen indicated after the trial that the county attorney’s office plans to review the investigation for possible charges.

Allen said the prosecutor’s decision to re-file charges in relation to the January incident had to do with Fisher’s criminal history.

“[Fisher] has already been convicted of assault with a weapon,” Allen said of a previous conviction in 2006. “We felt like we had a case we could prove.”