David Lee Fisher

When the case reached the Supreme Court, Justice Brennan and Justice Marshall dissented and threw out the sentence stating, "Adhering to our views that the death penalty is in all circumstances cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 227, 231, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 2950, 2973 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976), we would grant certiorari and vacate the death sentence in this case." However, the court's final decision upheld the death sentence.

In November 1987, David Lee Fisher was sentenced to death for the 1983 murder of David Wilkey. Fisher and Wilkey had met in 1982 in a motel in Charlotte, North Carolina, becoming fast friends and soon after, roommates. Fisher was convicted of conspiracy to kill Wilkey after Bobby Mulligan, the man who actually committed the crime, testified to police that Fisher had agreed to pay him money from the insurance settlement.

In an attempt to gather evidence against Fisher, police wired a friend of his, Gerald Steadham, and tape-recorded their conversations. These recordings were then used against Fisher during the trial. While they were played in their entirety during the trial, the jury only received typed transcripts of the sections of the tapes that the Commonwealth wished to highlight. Fisher later appealed the judge's decision to let the jury view transcripts of only certain, incriminating portions of the tapes but his appeal was denied.

In his closing arguments, Fisher's attorney made the following remarks, "And I would remind you that it has been brought out to you four score and underlined in red that there are probably still a dozen or so charges pending in North Carolina. Clearly, if you sentence this man to life imprisonment he will never see the sun shine again except through bars, and I think the ends of society will be met. I plead with you, I ask you to let that be your punishment." This statement was quickly objected to by the prosecution, however, because the statement was already made in front of the jury the judge permitted the Commonwealth to present a contrasting statement to the jury. The prosecutor stated, " I personally state to you as the Commonwealth's Attorney for this county and as an elected official, that is not true, that is not accurate." Despite the fact that Fisher stood very little chance of ever being set free again, the prosecution was still allowed to imply that there was a distinct possibility that Fisher could potentially be released into the community. The Appeal's court allowed this remark and the judge's decision to allow the prosecution to refute the defense's statement because it did not want to encourage the defense to intentionally make errors which would result in a mistrial.

David Lee Fisher was executed on March 25, 1999.