- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Man sentenced to four years in prison for killing traveling companion
Judge Andrew Blum handed down the sentence to 22-year-old Mavrick William Fisher on Dec. 21.
In November, a jury convicted Fisher of involuntary manslaughter for the death of 25-year-old Grant David Whitaker of Mackinaw, Illinois, on Aug. 20, 2019. They also found Fisher guilty of taking a vehicle without permission, as Lake County News has reported.
At the same time, the jury found Fisher not guilty of murder and hung on charges of voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon with a special allegation of great bodily injury or death.
Fisher and Whitaker, both deaf, had been traveling around California in a car loaned to Whitaker by his grandmother when they had a physical confrontation while camping at Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County.
Fisher claimed he used a rock to hit Whitaker in self-defense. He then took Whitaker’s body to a ranch in Scotts Valley near Lakeport and disposed of it before he fled to Mexico, where he was arrested days later. Authorities extradited him to Lake County, where the criminal proceedings were transferred because Whitaker’s body was located here.
In a Dec. 11 hearing, Judge Blum had ruled against retrying Fisher for voluntary manslaughter, concluding from his research that the law does not allow for conviction of both voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.
Blum also dismissed the other charges the jury hung on, assault with a deadly weapon and the special allegation of great bodily injury or death, in the interest of justice, which is his prerogative under the state’s penal code.
Defendant’s mother appears at sentencing hearing
During the Dec. 21 sentencing hearing, District Attorney Susan Krones – who personally prosecuted the case – said 12 impact statements by Whitaker’s family and friends were read to the court and Fisher.
Defense attorney Tom Feimer said Fisher’s family and friends also submitted letters in support of him, but Feimer opted to not read them aloud in court since they were already made available to the judge.
The case’s unique nature – involving both a defendant and a victim who are deaf – has received a large amount of attention from the deaf community nationwide.
The Daily Moth, a news outlet serving the deaf community, covered the trial extensively and posted a video of the sentencing that included the reading of the victim impact statements.
Also appearing during the sentencing was Fisher’s mother, Michelina Fisher of Nevada, who described her son’s accomplishments both as a student and after his graduation.
Through an interpreter, Michelina Fisher told the court, “I would be thrilled to have him back home. He can work on his land again. So he can keep his dreams up.”
Part of the result of the nationwide attention for the case has been “a lot of terrible and untrue things” said about Mavrick Fisher in online comments, Feimer said.
“There was a level of vindictiveness to it” in the online attacks that Feimer said left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
Feimer said he understood why Whitaker’s family members feel the way they do. But he noted that his client’s reputation has been tarnished well beyond the charges, and some of the claims about him worked their way into the victim impact statements from people who Feimer said don’t know Fisher personally.
While Feimer said that as a defense attorney he can’t offer much in the way of response to victim impact statements, he said Judge Blum did respond to some of the comments in the statements that targeted the jury for criticism.
“This jury gave the case their full attention,” said Feimer. “I’ve rarely seen a jury so engaged in terms of questions asked.”
He said the jurors asked very good questions – as good or even better than the attorneys asked during the trial – and added that they deserve a lot of thanks for their performance under the unique circumstances of being involved in a trial during a pandemic.
Judge decides on maximum sentence
Blum gave Fisher a four-year state prison sentence, which Krones said is the maximum term.
“I am pleased that the court gave him the maximum sentence as that is what I had argued to the court and I feel that is appropriate given the facts of the crime in this case,” she said.
She explained that the four-year sentence requires Fisher to concurrently serve time for both charges for which he was convicted – the involuntary manslaughter and taking a motor vehicle without permission of the owner.
She said Blum found that Fisher’s use of great violence and use of a weapon – in this case, a rock – were aggravating factors that outweighed any mitigating factors including the fact that Fisher had no prior criminal record.
Blum also concluded that Fisher displayed a high degree of callousness by not going to get help for Whitaker. Instead, Fisher dumped Whitaker’s body a few days later and lied, telling people that Whitaker was still alive for several days after he had killed him.
Because Fisher has been in custody for over a year he received 965 days total credits as of Dec. 21, Krones said.
Based on her calculations, as of Monday Fisher should have about 240 days left to serve.
“After serving his sentence he will either be on parole or Post Release Community Supervision for a time period,” said Krones.
“He was obviously hoping for less,” Feimer said of Fisher’s response to the sentencing.
However, Feimer added, “He’s still relieved that there won’t be another trial,” and that he now has a date when he knows he’ll be out of prison and can start moving on with his life.
One part of the case that remains unresolved is where, exactly, Fisher will serve the remainder of his time in custody.
Feimer said that, generally, under California’s criminal realignment, involuntary manslaughter is considered a local offense and so the prison sentence is served in local jails.
However, there are certain circumstances in which such terms are served in state prison. Feimer said Krones had argued – and the judge agreed – that, in this case, the circumstances called for Fisher to go to state prison and not serve the remainder of the term in the county jail.
Feimer said that while Blum sentenced Fisher to serve the time in state prison, he will allow for Feimer to argue for serving his sentence locally since neither the judge nor Krones could find a case on point that spoke to similar circumstances.
If his research supports it, Feimer said he’ll file a motion to seek to keep Fisher in the Lake County Jail for the remainder of his prison term.
Even if Fisher has to go to state prison, it could be some time before he’s sent there.
For months, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has not been accepting new inmates due to COVID-19.
Krones said it’s unknown when Fisher may be transported to state prison due to the pandemic.
Feimer agreed.
“Right now, for the foreseeable future, he’ll be staying here,” Feimer said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.