- March 9, 2025
When Jamesine Fischer goes to trial for charges of fleeing the scene of an accident involving death, prosecution will focus on the 11 and a half hours it took her to contact law enforcement rather than what happened at the scene of the crash.
Assistant State Attorney Russ Bausch revealed this at a hearing Monday for a motion filed by the prosecution to amend instructions to jurors during Fischer’s trial.
Cases involving the charges Fischer faces are most often encountered when someone flees the scene of an accident, Bausch said. But there’s a second part of the law that say that if a person remains on the scene of a crash and police do not respond, the person who caused the crash is required to “forthwith and as soon as practical” contact law enforcement.
Bausch asked that the second part of the law be included in the juror instructions, because traditionally it is not. Bausch said his evidence will center on that part of the law.
“You will see that the state’s primary theory in this case … is not going to be that Fischer didn’t remain on the scene,” Bausch said. “The primary prosecution is going to be that Fischer did not contact law enforcement until approximately 11 hours after the crash.”
Defense attorney Dan Hilbert disagreed, calling that part of the law an “afterthought.” He said he believed evidence will show that Fischer remained on the scene. The statute is meant to require that people stay on the scene of the crash.
“(Leaving a crash) is criminal when it is willful,” Hilbert said.
Circuit Judge J. David Walsh said he could not decide either way until he sees the evidence presented at trial. The jury instructions will be decided then. Fischer’s trial is set to start March 25.
