Deschutes DA drops charges in La Pine assault case

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said Friday he’s filed a motion with the circuit court seeking dismissal of the case against La Pine resident Mark Fisher that alleged he assaulted Albert Reisert.

The alleged incident precipitated the assault of Reisert by James Drake that resulted in Reisert stabling Drake to death in self-defense, Hummel said.

Hummel said in a news release the reason for dismissal of the case is that “the evidence was insufficient to establish that Fisher assaulted Reisert.”

“As the case was being prepared for presentation to a Deschutes County grand jury, myself and Deputy District Attorney Stacy Neal re-interviewed witnesses who previously established that an assault had occurred,” the DA said.

“Based on information learned during these interviews, I determined the evidence was insufficient to proceed,” he said. “I chose to not present the case to the grand jury, notified defense counsel of my decision and filed a motion to dismiss the charge.”

Once again, Hummel thanked law enforcement “for their excellent work on this case.”

Hummel also said he “extends his sympathies to Albert Reisert as he struggles with the fact he took someone’s life.

“Reisert was justified in his actions,” the DA said, “but regardless of this, the trauma involved in an incident of this magnitude is not known by most of us and never forgotten by those who’ve experienced it.”

The DA also said he “again extends his sympathies to the family of James Drake. I determined he assaulted Reisert, but regardless, he was loved by many and will be missed by those close to him.