Free Republic

The prosecution of Harold Fish reignited the debate over self-defense laws in America. For those not familiar with the story, Mr. Fish was convicted in Coconino County, Arizona of 2nd degree murder despite staying on site and rendering aid after being forced to shoot a violent attacker. Had Mr. Fish fled, the remote area where the shooting took place meant he was unlikely to be identified. Despite the opinion of the deputy that processed the crime scene and a mountain of evidence that proved Mr. Fish acted in self-defense, Coconino County authorities bowed to political pressure and pursued a baseless...

Harold A. Fish, 62, convicted of second-degree murder in a Coconino County trailside shooting death of Grant Kuenzli, is no longer a convicted felon. The Arizona Supreme Court Tuesday declined a request by Attorney General Terry Goddard to review the state appellate court's overturning of Fish's conviction. "He's now a free man," said Fish's Flagstaff-based attorney Lee Phillips. "He's no longer convicted of an offense, and justice has prevailed." Fish was convicted in June 2006 for the May 2004 shooting death of Kuenzli on a National Forest trail in the far southeast corner of the county. He argued at trial...

What's troublesome about gun nuts in this country isn't so much that they want to play with firearms and wear them on their hips with almost no restrictions. It's that many feel they have the God-given right to end every conflict with a bullet, or three. There's often implied cowardice that goes along with all the righteous handgun-totin'. Way too often, sidearms are worn by craven men with chips on their shoulders, itching for a fight they don't have to resolve with their fists. Take the case of Harold Fish, the ex-Tolleson high school teacher convicted of second-degree murder by...

It is a back country wanderer’s worst nightmare; arriving at a remote trailhead to find yourself accosted by two growling, snarling off-leash dogs, and then their owner, who threatens to kill you for having taken action to deter the approaching canines. That’s what retired Arizona teacher Harold Fish told investigators in May 2004 at the end of a dayhike in the Coconino National Forest that put him in a deadly confrontation with a man named Grant Kuenzli. Fish said he yelled a warning to Kuenzli to call off the dogs—a warning apparently ignored—then drew his 10mm Kimber semiautomatic pistol and...

Harold Fish, who's serving time for shooting a man in what he calls self-defense, will get another trial. The Arizona Supreme Court has reversed and remanded the high-profile case, sending it back for a new trial in which Fish can introduce testimony that was barred from his first go-around. The case began in 2004, after Fish ran into Grant Kuenzli and his dogs while hiking on a lonely trail in northern Arizona. According to Fish, the only witness, Kuenzli charged aggressively at Fish after failing to control his unleashed canines. Fish pointed a his 10-millimeter handgun at Kuenzli, yelled at...