A Missouri man named Ryan Ferguson is set to receive nearly $38 million dollars from an insurance company hired by the City of Columbia after they failed to pay him for a wrongful conviction lawsuit.
Ferguson was convicted of killing Kent Heitholt, a Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor. He served 10 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
According to ABC17 News, the 40-year-old man was awarded the hefty sum of money in damages in the case against Traveler's Insuarance, who had previously failed to compensate him in a lawsuit.
Kathleen Zellner, an attorney who represents Ferguson, told ABC17 News,
"This verdict will have a widespread effect on wrongful conviction cases across the country when the insurer refuses to participate in the settlement negotiations and refuses to pay their share of the verdict immediately. Justice was finally served for Ryan Ferguson. The jury heard us loud and clear."
Ryan Ferguson's arrest and subsequent lawsuit
Ferguson was convicted at the age of 19 and spent ten years in prison for the murder of sports journalist Kent Heitholt, who was found beaten and strangled to death in the parking lot of his office in 2001.
Ferguson was a high school junior at that time and was charged with robbery and murder alongside a friend named Charles Erickson, who confessed to the killing under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
His conviction was thrown out in 2013, after the court found prosecutors to be withholding evidence from the defense. Furthermore, the officers listed in the lawsuit were also accused of manipulating evidence, which led to Ferguson's freedom afrer that he sued the Missouri police and prosecutors in 2017 and won $11 million in the civil suit.
His friend Erickson was granted parole after serving 18 years of his 25 year sentence while the murder of Kent Heitholt remained unsolved.
Later in 2017, Ferguson sued Travelers Insurance. The company was ordered by the jury to pay him 1 million for each year he was in prison and, on behalf of the City of Columbia, an additional $354,000 for legal fees.
Travelers Insuarance filed an appeal in 2019, stating that the insurance policy hadn't yet started at the time of Ferguson's case. However, the appeals court sided with Ferguson and awarded him $5.3 million.
Last month, the case went on trial again to try Ferguson and the officers' claim against the insurance company. The six officers incuded Jeffery Nichols, William Westbrook, John Short, Loyd Simmons, Latisha Burns, and Bryan Liebhart. According to the ABC17 News,
"Count II of the lawsuit alleges Travelers Insurance 'intentionally disregarded the financial interest of the officers in the hopes of escaping the obligation to fund the officers’ defense and to escape the obligation to indemnify them for a significant financial obligation covered by L.E.L. [Law Enforcement Liability Policy].'"
According to Zellner, "[They] were initially working on the initial Kent Heitholt murder case, but were added as plaintiffs against Travelers Insurance for denying the officers needed coverage in civil rights violation cases."
Zellner further told ABC17 News,
"The officers were put in a no-win situation and Ryan was put in a situation, where he could not collect his verdict without being able to sue Travelers on behalf of the officers."
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Ferguson was convicted of murder, with the minimum evidence being the testimonies from two witnesses who have recanted their statements under oath. Erickson even admitted in appeals court that he had lied under oath.
According to Zellner, Ferguson will be awarded 86% of the verdict while the six police officers will get the remaining total of 14%. Zellner further stated that Ferguson has been awarded almost a total of $48 million with the new lawsuit.
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