Mr. Fisher, who is African-American, was arrested in upstate New York and returned to Oklahoma, where he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He faced execution if convicted, a prospect that, records show, his well-respected lawyer did little to avoid.<\/p>\n
The lawyer, E. Melvin Porter, a civil rights advocate and the first African-American elected to the Oklahoma State Senate, later said that at the time he considered homosexuals to be \u201camong the worst people in the world,\u201d\u009d and Mr. Fisher to be a \u201cvery hostile client.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Mr. Porter was shockingly ill-prepared for trial \u201d\u201d \u201cunwilling or unable to reveal evident holes in the state\u2019s case,\u201d\u009d a federal appellate court later noted, yet \u201cremarkably successful in undermining his own client\u2019s testimony.\u201d\u009d He exhibited \u201cactual doubt and hostility\u201d\u009d about his client\u2019s defense, the court said, and failed to present a closing argument, even though the state\u2019s case \u201cwas hardly overwhelming.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n