Mavrick Fisher’s first court appearance

[TRANSCRIPT] Hello, I have an update from Mavrick Fisher’s court appearance yesterday in Lakeport, California.

A Lake County News reporter, Elizabeth Larson, was able to observe the arraignment hearing at the Lake County Superior Court and wrote an article on it. The link is in the transcript and I will share what it says and add a little bit of information.

Mavrick was seen wearing a jail jumpsuit and sat in the jury box with other people who also waited for their arraignment. There was an interpreter present.

The reporter said there was a young woman outside of the courtroom who held up a baby so Mavrick could see it through the window. There was another, older woman with her. It is not clear who the two women were, but Mavrick does have a baby son, and it seems likely it was Mavrick child and his mother. They were allowed in the courtroom but was warned by the bailiff to not communicate with Mavrick.

The judge is J. David Markham. He was appointed a judge in December 2017 by former governor Jerry Brown.

The prosecutor is District Attorney Susan Krones. She won an election in 2018 to become the first female DA in Lake County.

Mavrick was assigned a defense attorney from the county’s indigent defense contract — which is a public defender program. Mavrick couldn’t afford an attorney. His name is Tom Feimer. He studied law at the Golden Gate University in San Francisco in 2009 and passed the Bar the same year.

The judge asked Mavrick if he understood his rights. Mavrick said, “I’m just wondering when I can call my witness.” The judge said they weren’t yet at that point.

Krones charged Mavrick with murdering Grant Whitaker. She also charged Mavrick with assault with a deadly weapon by using a rock; a special allegation of inflicting great bodily injury; willfully and maliciously removing and keeping possession of the 2011 Chevrolet Impala that Grant was driving — it was revealed that it was on loan from his grandmother in Illinois; and unlawfully taking the car after the murder.

Krones said the murder was “brutal.” She said she believes the murder happened at Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County on Tuesday, August 20 in the early morning. She said the investigation is still going on and that she couldn’t say if the murder was a part of a physical fight between the two or if Grant was hit when he was “still resting.” She also said it was unclear if the rock used to kill Grant has been recovered.

She did explain that the two were traveling across the country, that the two wanted to start a deaf farming community, but that there were disagreements between the two and that Grant told Mavrick he wanted to separate from him.

Krones said after the killing, Mavrick dumped Grant’s body at the 7500 block of Scotts Valley Road, but did not explain the exact timeframe.

According to Google Maps, it is about an hour and a half drive south of the campground, just over 91 miles.

The location of the body appears to be the same place where Mavrick and Grant were seen discussing their vision of a farming community. In a previous video on Mavrick’s Facebook page, Grant is seen introducing the owner of the land, which is a man named Lee. Grant said he is a “good hearing friend” and that he owns 160 acres.

Krones did not say this in court, instead saying that the land may have been owned by acquaintances of Mavrick.

Krones said Grant’s grandmother reported him missing to Illinois authorities on Saturday, August 24 after not hearing from him. It was on the same day that the Chevy Impala was found at the Clearlake Dollar General.

Krones said after the murder, Mavrick made his way to Mexico and sent out emails to friends about what was going on, and that she would analyze the emails. She said authorities received information on Sunday, August 25 that Mavrick had admitted to killing Grant and on where his body was.

Krones said on Monday, August 26, law enforcement served a search warrant which led to the discovery of human remains at the aforementioned land and that on the same day Mexican law enforcement reached out to California authorities that Mavrick was taken in custody.

Krones explained that the information about Mavrick admitting to killing Grant has come from other sources, not from Mavrick himself. She said Mavrick has made statements to law enforcement that are “varying” and that investigators are not sure how truthful Mavrick was in what he said to either his friends or law enforcement.

Krones said there are a lot of witnesses that she needs to talk to still.

Krones said an autopsy of Grant’s body on Wednesday, August 28 confirmed that the body was Grant’s and that he was killed by a blow to the head.

Krones said she is working with the Humboldt County District Attorney on this case and that they have asked her to handle the case in Lake County, and it is within her jurisdiction because the body was found in Lake County. Investigators in both counties are working on the case.

Krones asked the judge to continue to keep Mavrick in custody on a no-bail bond because she believes he is an extreme flight risk due to him previously fleeing to Mexico and that he has no ties to Lake County or California. She said she believes he is an extreme danger to the public if released.

Mavrick’s defense attorney, Feimer, reserved argument and asked for a review of his bail on his next court appearance on Monday, September 9 at 8:15 a.m.

So, this is a very detailed account of what happened in court yesterday from Lake County News.

Lake County News: https://bit.ly/2PH5vGO

Judge: https://www.lakeconews.com/index.php/news/53708-markham-appointed-to-lake-county-superior-court-bench

District Attorney: https://www.facebook.com/SusanKronesforDistrictAttorney/?ref=py_c

Defense Attorney: http://www.feimerlaw.justia.net/attorney_5-1750249.html

Mav Video: https://www.facebook.com/deafvagabond/videos/2852147758133188/

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