Man seeks reversal of third death sentence | From the archives

This article originally appeared in The Inquirer on Aug. 1, 1997.

Every time death came knocking, Robert Fisher found a way to stall the reaper.

Now he's trying to do it again.

A week after a Montgomery County Court judge formally sentenced him to death for a third time, Fisher is trying to have the sentence overturned.

Fisher, who was convicted for the 1980 shooting death of his girlfriend in Norristown, had his previous two death sentences thrown out by the state Supreme Court.

In court papers filed yesterday, his attorney, Francis M. Walsh, says there was insufficient evidence to warrant the third death sentence.

He also questions tactics the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office used to win its case against Fisher, such as pointing out a barracuda tattoo on the 50-year-old defendant's right forearm.

``That's a predatory fish with a lot of teeth, isn't it? '' First Assistant District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. asked Fisher in court in June.

``It's a fish,'' Fisher replied.

``Not just a fish,'' Castor fired back. ``It's a nasty, evil fish. And that's why you had it tattooed on your arm, isn't it? ''

Walsh also criticizes Castor for pointing out the parents of victim Linda Rowden, who were seated in the front row of the courtroom throughout the sentencing phase of his trial in June.

Fisher's second death sentence was tossed out last summer because emotional testimony from Rowden's parents - called victim-impact statements - should not have been considered, the state Supreme Court ruled.

Pointing out Rowden's parents, Walsh says in the court documents, could have an emotional impact similar to victims' statements.

Castor said he was not surprised by the appeal.

``Every allegation of error is totally meritless,'' he said yesterday. ``This was as clean a sentencing hearing as you could possibly have. The reason he was sentenced to death was because he deserved to be executed. ''

Fisher killed Rowden because she had been ``running her mouth off'' to police and feared she might implicate him in another murder, Castor said.

Fisher ended up eluding police until 1987 - seven years after the murder - when they tracked him down in New York City.

He was convicted and sentenced to death in Montgomery County the following year.

Three years later, in 1991, the state Supreme Court overturned the sentence and conviction. Fisher was retried and resentenced to death the same year.

Last summer, the state Supreme Court again tossed out the sentence, while upholding the conviction, because the victim-impact statements had been improperly allowed.

Fisher's most recent death sentence was decided by a jury June 25 and formally imposed by Judge Richard J. Hodgson on July 23.

Last week, Fisher, who is black, called the jury a ``lynch mob'' because it consisted of 11 whites and one Filipino.

Walsh did not attack the makeup of the jury in the motion filed yesterday.