ROSS COUNTY, Ohio — The Ross County Prosecutor’s Office responds to former Chillicothe principal Jeff Fisher’s motion to vacate his plea and overturn his conviction.
In December of last year, Former Chillicothe High School principal Jeffrey Fisher filed a nearly 400-page motion to the Ross County Court of Common Pleas asking to vacate his plea and have his case dismissed, saying that new evidence proves his innocence.
Fisher was charged with seven counts of sexual battery against two high school students in 2017, two years after he won Ohio’s “Principal of the Year” award.
In 2018, Fisher entered an “Alford Plea” on two counts, citing his innocence but agreeing that the state provided enough evidence to convict. His legal team struck a deal with the prosecutor for probation, but Judge Michael Ater exercised judicial discretion and sent Fisher to prison. Ater gave him a two-year prison sentence, but after he served 13 months, he was given “Judicial Release.”
Fisher says in his motion that text messages used as evidence in his case were fake and that neither the detectives nor the prosecutor’s office investigated their authenticity.
In the motion, Fisher states, “Newly released and discovered evidence involving the defendant, the accusers, the prosecution, and the accusations made in this case directly support the actual innocence of the defendant, providing further justification for this Honorable Court to grant the relief sought by the defendant in this motion.”
Since his conviction, the former educator has had to register as a tier III sex offender.
The Ross County Prosecutor’s Office petitioned the court to allow time to examine Fisher’s motion and file a response, saying, “Due to the voluminous nature of the motion, as well as the timing of the filing, it took a lengthy amount of time to read and digest. Having completed that task, the State of Ohio certainly tends to respond to the motion. Due to the myriad of issues raised by the defendant’s Motion, the State will need to conduct an additional investigation beyond what took place during the initial phases of this matter.”
It is unclear when the court will hold an official hearing on the motion, but the prosecutor’s office says in their proposed briefing schedule that they intend to submit a brief by May 1, 2023.