Wisner Desmaret Trial to Start on Charges of Killing FMPD Officer

Wisner Desmaret

Jury selection is set to start today for Wisner Desmaret, who is charged with First Degree Murder in the killing of Fort Myers Police Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller in 2018. Jobbers-Miller was responding to a complaint, when he was allegedly tackled by Desmaret, who took his firearm and fatally shot him. The State is seeking the Death Penalty on the case. Desmaret fired his attorney, and will be representing himself at the trial. Desmaret has a documented mental health history — he’s had prior criminal cases in which he was found incompetent to stand trial, and subsequently received treatment. His competency has been evaluated in this case, but he has been found competent to stand trial.

It should be noted that competency, his ability to appreciate the charges and comport himself in court, is different from the defense of insanity. Insanity is a mental disease defect so extreme that at the time of the offense, the defendant could not understand what he was doing or could not understand that what he’s doing was wrong. It’s a difficult defense, as individuals are presumed innocent, and as an affirmative defense, the burden is on the Defense to prove the insanity by clear and convincing evidence.

While prior counsel filed a notice that they intended to use insanity as a defense, citing schizophrenia and abnormal brain scans, Desmaret may not use that defense now that he’s representing himself for the trial. At a pretrial conference last week, Desmaret in discussing the case raised some issues that he may argue at trial, and they were kind of all over the place. At one point he discussed a lack of certain DNA evidence, suggesting an identification defense, at other times talking about police violence, suggesting a justifiable use of force defense. Then he made some comments suggesting a conspiracy theory about them wanting to harvest his blood. It won’t be clear what he argues as his defense until the trial gets going, and with his addled brain, it may not become clear.

Jury selection is slated to start today. The trial should take several weeks, possibly two or three, but maybe several, depending on how things go.

Man Charged with Killing Fort Myers Officer Intends to Claim Insanity

Wisner Desmaret

Wisner Desmaret, the man accused of taking the gun from and killing officer Adam Jobbers-Miller in 2018, has filed a notice of intent to rely on insanity as a defense in the case. This was expected, as he was caught on the scene, as well as on body cams, and Mr. Desmaret has an extensive mental health history. Desmaret had previously been declared incompetent to stand trial on prior offenses. Insanity is different from incompetence, and is an affirmative defense. That means the Defendant concedes the underlying action, and then the burden is on him to prove that he should be excused by the defense. To demonstrate insanity in Florida is difficult to prove: not only must the defense demonstrate the “mental infirmity, disease, or defect”, the Defense must show that the issue was so great that the Defendant did not know what he was doing or that what he was doing was wrong. It’s insufficient to merely claim that one is insane… it has to be proved that the mental issue is very extreme.

Desmaret could be facing the death penalty if he is found guilty.

Alleged Cop-Killer Desmaret to be Evaluated for Competency

Wisner Desmaret

The man charged in the killing of Fort Myers police officer Adam Jobbers-Miller has been ordered to undergo a competency evaluation to determine if he is able to stand trial at this time. Wisner Desmaret will be evaluated by qualified doctors to determine whether his current mental state can support going to trial a this time. One has to be severely impaired to be found incompetent, essentially the experts would have to find that he was unable to understand the charges, the court process, or to effectively assist his attorneys in his defense. If he is found incompetent at this time, that does not mean that he can not be prosecuted, as the state can attempt to restore his competency (through medication and counseling) and he can be brought to trial if his competency is restored.

The evaluation was expected, as there have been previous questions of his competency in his previous cases. He has been found incompetent multiple times, and on one occasion, the court found that his competency was not restorable, based on expert testimony presented. However, another judge found that after restoration treatment, that his competency had been restored, which led to his release from a Sarasota county jail not long before he killed Officer Jobbers-Miller. If he is found incompetent, he will likely remain in custody until his competency is restored, at which point he will face trial for First-Degree Murder. The state has filed their intention to seek the death penalty against him.

Alleged Cop-Killer Desmaret Indicted for First Degree Murder

Wisner Desmaret

A grand jury has returned an indictment for First Degree Murder against Wisner Desmaret, the man accused of killing FMPD Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller. A grand jury indictment is a necessary step in Florida to proceed on First Degree Murder charges, and may be the next step toward the state seeking the death penalty. The grand jury found evidence that he killed Jobbers-Miller with premeditated design or in the course of committing a violent felony (resisting an officer with violence), in addition to additional charges of Resisting with Violence, Robbery, Depriving an Officer of Means of Protection, Attempted Murder and Aggravated Assault on other officers, and Burglary and Grand Theft. The police report indicates that Wisner, a former boxer, knocked Jobbers-Miller down, took his gun, and shot him in the head while he was still on the ground. He then fired at two other officers, one of whom shot Desmaret before he was taken into custody.

Desmaret is set for arraignment on August 27, though that may be moved up, since the indictment has been filed. Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira Fox was the prosecutor who obtained the indictment, and will likely be handling the case.