Ryan Ferguson's fight for freedom

"Everything is wrong about this case, everything's wrong about it. It makes absolutely no sense," Kathleen Zellner told the court.

The only evidence that ever linked Ryan Ferguson to Kent Heitholt's murder was the word of two witnesses. Now that both have recanted - under oath -- Zellner feels she's done her job.

"It ought to be plain as day to anyone looking at it, this case is just a complete fraud," she told reporters outside the courthouse.

"We'll just wait for the judge's decision," a prosecutor told the reporters.

Ryan's father Bill Ferguson is more upbeat than he's been for years.

"We feel like it went very, very well," he told the reporters.

Prodded by a reporter, he fantasizes about his son's first day of freedom.

"Whatever he wants to do, the rest of us will support 100 percent. I got a feeling he's going to be wanting a good hot shower and a good meal," Bill Ferguson said.

The judge promises a quick decision, but Ryan Ferguson has to wait six-and-a-half months. Then, the appeal is denied.

"I just sat in this room by myself. And just stared at the floor ... and its frustrating because you don't know, even with all the facts, if you'll ever get your life back," Ryan Ferguson told Erin Moriarty.

SLIDESHOW

The crime scene and more »

The evidence that Judge Daniel Green heard wasn't enough to convince him that Ferguson is innocent, so his conviction will stand.

"It caught me so off guard ... I was just totally blindsided," Bill Ferguson said of he judge's ruling. "You know, I almost -- my knees almost buckled. And I remember -- supporting myself against the wall of the hall, and I was just -- it was just surreal. You know, it was like -- the worst dream possible."

In his decision, the judge sides with the Missouri Attorney General and says he believes Charles Erickson was a far more credible witness seven years ago at Ryan Ferguson's trial than he is today.

"This judge, he didn't say Erickson was a liar all the way through," Zeller said. "He cherry-picked out his trial testimony and said, 'Oh, no. He was telling the truth then, but he subsequently became a liar." It - it -- it's just a -- it doesn't make any sense."

What's more, Judge Green says that much of Zellner's new evidence wasn't new at all -- that experts like pathologist Larry Blum were available in 2005, and could have been called at Ferguson's trial.

Still, one part of Judge Green's decision could help Ferguson. The judge does believe that Jerry Trump lied at the trial in 2005, although he doesn't believe the prosecutor asked him to.

"That's good. But then, he took that away by saying it didn't matter. It didn't matter because there was Chuck Erickson," Zellner said. "So what we've got right now is Ryan Ferguson's life and his conviction rest on the testimony of Charles Erickson at trial."

"That's it?" Moriarty asked.

"And that's it. That's all that's holding the case together," said Zellner.

"So as you sit here today, do you think you had anything to do with this?" Moriarty asked Charles Erickson.

"No," he replied.

"Do you think Ryan Ferguson did?"

"No," said Erickson.

"What if Ryan never gets out of prison? How will you feel about that?"

"I will feel like I have done all that I've can to remedy the situation," he replied. "And that I made a lotta mistakes on the way, but in the end, I tried to do the right thing."

"You don't think this decision's gonna hold up?" Moriarty asked Zellner.

"No. It will not," she replied. "This cannot stand. This cannot be the final decision, the final chapter for Ryan Ferguson."

Ryan's father is determined to press on -- outlining his son's plight on a website he runs.

Website: Free Ryan Ferguson.com

"We reached a million people on Ryan's birthday," he said of the site.

Bill Ferguson is also offering a $10,000 reward for finding the man who was seen in the parking lot that night.

"... we really want to tempt the public, if they know something, to come forward," he said.

As of now, Ryan Ferguson is still in prison. Yet the fact remains that there are now no witnesses who say he killed Kent Heitholt. None. And there never has been any physical evidence to tie him to the crime. So Ryan somehow managed to kill a man without being seen, leaving no trace behind or he is an innocent man.

"It's the first time, I would say, in my career of 28 years, that I felt ashamed to be a lawyer," Zellner told Moriarty. "I've always felt that the system works ... so this time, I thought, 'This is just so unfair.' ... It's -- and it made me more determined ... To get him out. Because he is absolutely innocent. ... And I don't want to be part of a system that cannot recognize and correct an error."

Ryan Ferguson is not angry at Charles Erickson. He says he's just relieved that he told the truth.

"It looked so good this time. Does that make it more difficult to have optimism?" Moriarty asked.

"I think that makes it -- just phenomenally more difficult," Ferguson replied.

"Have you lost all hope?"

"I haven't lost all hope," he said.

"But you sound discouraged."

"Yeah, yeah," Ferguson said, "but ... I'm an innocent man, and the facts prove it."

Kathleen Zellner has appealed this latest decision. It is Ryan Ferguson's 13th attempt to overturn his conviction.

Charles Erickson statement [Aug. 29, 2011] : Part 1 | Part 2

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[ldiz37]

What if there was a particular key that the killer was interested in? probably not but its a thought. What if the killer took them as a souvenir? It would be good to know what every key was for. Also if the watch was broken during the killing then the killer could have taken it so as not to show time of death.
A sober person could think about these things. It happened so fast wouldnt the killer have to plan to take these things in particular? It couldnt have been quick or easy to take the belt off of such a large heavy man. The only person who would have had the time was the co-worker. Police need to search his house and car with a fine tooth comb to look for blood,keys and the watch. I cant think of his name but the co-worker was said to have stated he would not give his DNA sample to Zellner but would if the sheriff asked him.
Thats sounds shady to me. The co-worker said he was in his car listening to music when the victom came out of the building. Sounds more like laying in wait to me. This case is so screwed up!! I am going to JUMP for joy when Ryan is free THIS SUMMER!! Keep the faith Ryan and family!!

[rickyfur]

In Erickson's Nov. 2012 deposition (recantation), he still admits to committing the murder, and he still places Ferguson at the scene. His depo can be viewed here on youtube "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_RMinr-wrE". A major question that is still unanswered is why would Erickson voluntarily approach the police with his story, and why did he implicate his friend, Ferguson? The original case and the appeals do not seem as straightforward as some make it out to be. Ferguson's insistence that he was not at the scene is in direct conflict with Erickson's recantation. So do we simply pick and choose which part of the recantation to accept as true? I also find it surprising that all the uproar has been about Ferguson's conviction. Shouldn't there be an equal amount of sympathy for Erickson? It is heart-wrenching to listen to Erickson speak about his situation before the murder and how much he was hurting.

[d2bd2b]

We shouldn't pick and choose when to believe Erickson. We should throw out Erickson's ramblings old and new and look at the objective evidence. Here's the thing....there is NONE against Ferguson (or Erickson). There is nothing to corroborate any relevant claim Chuck made at trial. His story never made sense and still doesn't. This is what happens when you black out. It's easy to fill the memory void with false information. Blank slate.

[Compassionate_Reader]

This case reminds me of the West Memphis Three case that I have followed for years. Three innocent teens spent over eighteen years in prison based on a coerced confession from one of them (a mentally-challenged seventeen-year-old at the time) and the testimony of three teenaged girls who claimed to have "overheard" one of the teens confess. There was no physical evidence linking them to the crime, and all biological evidence since tested has excluded them.

Luckily, the three have been freed (but not exonerated) on an Alford plea. We are still working for their exoneration and for the investigation of the real culprit of the heinous murder of three eight-year-old boys in 1993. Freedom for the innocent, although important, is not the end. The guilty must be punished, too. And, in the West Memphis Three case, the innocent must be exonerated and their rights restored to them.

Hopefully, Ryan's new attorney will eventually achieve exoneration and freedom for Ryan. One reason that the West Memphis Three were freed was that they all agreed not to sue the State. I believe that the fear of a civil suit is one reason that "Judge" Green denied Ryan's appeal in this case. Sad, but, given the economic condition of this country, true.

The state of "justice" in America is pretty ridiculous when innocent people like Ryan Ferguson and others can languish in prison while those responsible for their incarceration (mainly corrupt judges and/or prosecutors) feather their nests. The judge in the West Memphis Three case is now a State Senator. The two prosecutors are now judges.

There are really a lot of similarities in these two cases. I wonder, did the authorities ever run the prints at the scene through CODIS? Or, was it once again like the West Memphis Three case - once they had a coerced confession, they did nothing to pursue any other suspects?

When will attorneys, the good ones (there ARE a few) band together to change some of the rules (like police interrogation tactics that allow leading questions) so that people are truly presumed innocent? This case, like the West Memphis Three case, are true travesties and black eyes on the legal systems of their respective states. It boggles the mind! Hopefully, Ryan will soon be free.

[rothenbj]

I agree as I've followed both closely.

[DebbyStadler]

Worst case on injustice. There should be standards set when a case must be reversed. It seems a judge is just not accountable. Please let me know what I can do to assist in getting this innocent person released.

[Wildwood1966]

When Ths happened I was convinced they wre innocent - how sad - I was hoping this time it would be differnet - I will sign the petition below - hoping this helps

[radish23]

For anyone who's interested, there's a petition you can sign to ask that Ryan be freed, or at the very least, be given a new trial:

http://www.change.org/petitions/please-grant-ryan-ferguson-a-new-trial-or-freedom

[kbbpll]

The prosecutor is now a judge - sounds exactly like the Tim Masters case in Colorado.

[gotcha-2095]

More and more people are being proved innocent today.This case involves a young man spending 8 yrs. in prison.Check out the case of David Camm in Floyd County, Indiana.Prosecutorial misconduct has happened in the past and continues today.These prosecutors who seek re-election or higher Political Office are not concerned with justice,only concern is making a name for themselves.The David Camm case is interesting because Camm was a former Indiana State Police Trooper and not just one prosecutor made mistakes,but the new prosecutor compounded those mistakes in many different ways. Sad part is an innocent man has spent 10 yrs. for killing his wife and 2 children.The first trial Camm was convicted without a key peice of eveidence being thouroughly investigated.After a conviction and sentencing and a new trial was ordered due to prosecutors misconduct.In preparing for the second trial,the key peice of evidence from the first trial was identifide to a career criminal that was released 2 months before the killings.More and more is to this story,but it confirms that a lot of people are in prison that are innocent.The big media news agency's should follow this case.It is an eye opener to how "liars for hire" abuse the Justice system and a lot of other problems with our Judicial system that need corrected.

[1st-crackerhead]

why are there no intergation tapes ? where was the other kids parents ?It really sounds like a very bad nightmare. I know we are alone in this world the only thing a cop can do is the paper work after the fact. most of the time they screw that up to.

[rothenbj]

There are interrogation tapes available on the web. Erickson is spoon fed information after hours of information and told either he or Ryan will take the fall. The kid was verbally abused for hours and said whatever they wanted to hear at the end.

[realtyasis]

Prosecutes, Judge Green, Kevin Crane etc. believe the trial verdict was right. They have to or the system they work in is flawed at best and completely bankrupt at worst. if you believe both witnesses an there is no reason you should not you had jury tampering by Kevin Crane and the Judge Green won't allow that to go forward because it's an automatic retrial. The Kevin Crane if guilty of jury tampering he most likely would be disbarred and lose his judgeship if he tampered with a jury and committed perjury. Ryan will not get very far working for a state re-trial. He will get resistance because they have to be wrong if he is write and as everyone has said they don't want to be wrong. Ryan needs to take this to a new court that can be right without someone in that court being wrong. Federal court for denying his constitution right to freedom. I believe that is how The Hurricane (Rubin "Hurricane" Carter) finally got out of prison. They filed a Writ of Habeas corpus in federal court. Making the System Wrong is an uphill battle having a new court look at doing what is right is a much easier battle. I'm no Lawyer and this is my reading of how the Hurricane got freed.

"Habeas corpus (English pronunciation: "may you have the body") is a writ (legal action) which requires a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court.[1][2] This ensures that a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention; that is, detention lacking sufficient cause or evidence. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to the prisoner's aid. This right originated in the English legal system, and is now available in many nations. It has historically been an important legal instrument safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary state action." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They may be waiting on this because it's a "Hail Mary Pass" or last resort and if they don't allow it, he won't get a new trial in state court. I can't believe how composed Ryan is, in his heart he must know the truth will come out. It's pretty sad that all his is asking for is a fair trial his constitutional right and he can't even get that.

[thetruthwillout]

Very sad story. I would take this to a higher court, if that is possible. I think Zellner is right, the prosecution was not out for justice; they just wanted to win. The judge seemed very "sketchy" to me. I would call for a new trial.