The Exoneration of Ryan Ferguson - Research Paper Example

 The Exoneration of Ryan Ferguson A man accused of murder spent ten years behind bars for a murder that in 2013, he was released for. He was exonerated of the crime because there was no evidence that he allegedly committed murder of a Columbia, Missouri man in 2001. He spent almost a decade in prison for a crime he was not accountable for (Piper). This discusses the crime itself, how Ferguson went about seeking exoneration, how the exoneration occurred and what Possible Errors The Criminal Justice System made. At the age of 17 years old, Ryan Ferguson of Columbia, Missouri was the prime suspect in the murder on November 1, 2001 in the death of Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor, Kent Heitholt. Ferguson and a friend were leaving a bar at 1:15 a.m. on that early morning with Ferguson dropping his friend off before heading home himself. At 2:20 a.m., a co-worker of Heitholt, Michael Boyd said their farewells. At 2:22 a.m., a janitor at the newspaper office, Shawna Ornt, went outside to see shadows of two people near Heitholt’s vehicle and told colleague, Jerry Trump (Piper). One of the men who were in the shadows walked over and spoke to Ornt and four minutes later, Ornt called 911. Ornt, Trump and Boyd were all interrogated, with Ornt giving a description to a sketch artist. Though Boyd was the last person to see Heitholt alive, he was never considered a suspect and his story changed five times during the course of the case. In 2004, Chuck Erickson, the friend who had been out with Ferguson that night, saw the sketches and read about Heitholt’s murder in the local newspaper. He believed the sketches looked like Ferguson and that night, he dreamed that he and Ferguson committed the murder. Erickson then told his friend about the dream as if it was his reality and the friend then calls the Columbia police (Piper). Erickson did not know any details of the crime and Ferguson was brought in for questioning. He told the truth about taking Erickson home and going home himself to go to sleep at 1:15 a.m. Later that year in 2004, Ferguson and Erickson were both charged with murder by prosecutor Kevin Crane. Though Erickson recounted things he thought were true based on a dream sequence, there was no motive for the two to have killed the sports editor and no DNA evidence that link the two young men to the crime scene. There was a hair found on the crime scene, blood found on the hair and fingerprints. None of the DNA evidence matched up with Ferguson or Erickson. Everything Erickson continues to say about recounting that night changes though he believes that everything about the dream he had about the murder was true (Piper). The dreams Erickson had had did not make any sense but since he had told the story to his friend, it tipped off the police. Erickson’s other friend was convinced because of the details Erickson told that he and Ferguson were the murderers. Erickson’s interview is one that is said to be one of the most shocking and disturbing interrogations made by police to ever be caught on camera. He had no knowledge of the crime other than what he had read about in the newspaper. He had no idea how Heitholt had been savagely attacked, did not know what the weapon was, how many times he had been beaten, or even how it had taken place. In efforts that Ferguson’s legal team suggests were to cover up a high-profile case, Erickson was manipulated and given information that was critical to the crime which was a flaw in the judicial system (Free Ryan Ferguson, n.d.) In order to receive a lighter sentence, he agreed to a plea deal. In 2005, the murder trial of Ryan Ferguson began(Piper). Ferguson’s conviction came down from the Boone County Circuit Court in front of a jury. Prosecution had theorized evidence and used Trump’s testimony and Erickson’s confession to convict Ferguson on December 5, 2005 of second degree murder and first degree robbery and he was sentenced to 40 years in a Missouri prison (Possley, 2014). Erickson received a 25-year sentence for testifying against Ferguson. Erickson had said that he had hit Heitholt with a tire tool made of metal while Ferguson used the man’s belt to strangle him (KABC, 2014). Ryan Ferguson said that a lot of why he thinks he was a suspect is only a matter of opinion because of speculation. Facts indicate that the last person to see the victim alive was never fully questioned. “It appears that they never looked beyond the description of ‘2 white males’ who were ‘at’ the scene of the crime,” Ferguson said. Some theories suggest that police chose to make an arrest before verifying any facts or evidence (R. Ferguson, personal communication, May 2, 2014). Once in prison, Ferguson went about seeking his own exoneration from the minute he was arrested. His father and a legal team studied every day. Ferguson also studied, learning more about case law and similar cases. “When in prison it seems there isn’t much one can do,” Ferguson said. The best effort, he said, was to put all of the documented facts in front of everyone so that the legal team could show that there was no dispute, no theories and that there were no secrets to hide. Ferguson read books such as Actual Innocence and True Studies of False Confessions because his case was based off of a false confession. “It was very disheartening when evidences comes back proving your innocence and the law enforcement officers are just like… eh…” Ferguson said. As soon as Ferguson was put in jail, his support system spent days reading and studying while he spent a ten-year stint in prison. “We were the lucky ones,” he said when talking about his exoneration. “Many take 15, 20, 30 years or for most…never,” (R. Ferguson, personal communication, May 2, 2014). Erickson acknowledged during a hearing in 2012 that he had been a heavy alcohol and drug user. He said that his encounters with the police were very hazy and he believed he had been persuaded by the police into believing that he was guilty. He was unsure of his involvement and was very adamant that Ferguson was not involved (KABC, 2014). This was circumstance enough to put the exoneration of Ryan Ferguson even more in motion by stating his testimony had been made up. Ferguson, who had known this all along, along with his defense team had a job well done by reading up on false accusations and how to fight them in court. In 2012, Erickson admitted in court that he had lied. The janitor who originally had placed Ferguson at the crime scene admitted she had too. When the Missouri appeals court overturned his conviction, Ferguson, 29, walked out of prison a week later on November 13, 2013. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster had announced that he would not retry Ferguson (Mattingly & Smith, 2013). The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District vacated Ferguson’s sentence. Their reason was that prosecutors had withheld some key evidence from the defense during Ferguson’s trial. Judge Cynthia Martin had written in her summary about the decision that, “Under the facts and circumstances of this case, we conclude that Ferguson did not receive a fair trial. His verdict is not worthy of confidence,” (Galloway, Johnson & Jarrett, 2013). Though Erickson had been the reason that Ferguson had been put in jail, he is fighting to set is friend, Chuck Erickson free. He had had a recanted accusation and a confession that put Ferguson behind bars. Ferguson’s family vowed to help get Erickson out from behind bars to provide closure to the case and put the real killer in prison simply because like Ferguson, he too is not a murderer (Galloway, Johnson & Jarrett, 2013). In regards to the exoneration, the state of Missouri concluded that they had no confidence in the verdict because there were pieces of evidence that proved Ferguson’s innocence. There were a number of Brady violations where the prosecutors were hiding exculpatory evidence. There were also several instances when there were interviews with witnesses that proved that another’s interview was completely false (R. Ferguson, personal communication, May 2, 2014). This is another instance where the judicial system did the wrong thing by ignoring Brady violations. Contributing factors to Ferguson’s exoneration were perjury or false accusation and official misconduct. DNA evidence did not contribute to his exoneration. In March of 2014, Ryan Ferguson filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the police officers and the prosecutor that were involved in his murder case (Possley, 2014). Since Ferguson filed the federal civil rights lawsuit, six out of 13 wish to have some of the counts dismissed. He has sued the city of Columbia, Boone County, as well as the law enforcement officers for not doing their jobs. Former police chief of Columbia, Randy Boehm, had his attorney seek to have three of eight claims against him dropped. Stephen Monticelli, an ex-sergeant officer, asked that a charge of malicious prosecution be dropped. Investigator Ben White of the city of Columbia and Boone County and Boone County Circuit Judge Kevin Crane have both asked that all counts against them to be dropped. Rulings have not yet been made (KSDK, 2014). This is an injustice where the officials do not want to be accountable. References Galloway, A., Johnson, N., & Jarrett, T. (2013, November 15). Ryan Ferguson vows to help free friend whose testimony put him behind bars - NBC News. NBC News. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/ryan-ferguson-vows-help-free-friend-whose-testimony-put-him-f2D11603993 Helping Ryan Ferguson Fight For His Freedom:The Case (n.d.). Free Ryan Ferguson. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://freeryanferguson.com/the-investigation/ KABC News. (2013, November 13). Ryan Ferguson exonerated of murder conviction after serving nearly 10 years. KABC-TV. Retrieved May 3, 2014 from http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/national_world&id=9324291 KSDK News. (30, April, 2014). Ryan Ferguson civil lawsuit: Defendants want counts dismissed. KSDK. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/04/30/ryan-ferguson-civil-lawsuit-defendants-want-some-counts-dismissed/8506527/. Mattingly, D., & Smith, T. (2013, November 13). Ryan Ferguson freed from prison after murder conviction overturned. CNN. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/12/justice/ryan-ferguson-freed/ Piper, Brandie. Ryan Ferguson: Timeline of the case. (2013, November 13). KSDK. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2013/11/13/ryan-ferguson-timeline/3520063/ Possley, Maurice. (2014). Ryan Ferguson. The National Registry of Exonerations. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4304. Read More