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* * * * * NEW UPDATE * * * * *
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As a family we would like to take time to offer our sincere condolences to the Heitholt family for their tragic loss 10 years. Rest assured you will receive justice.
Ryan, Kelly, Leslie and Bill Ferguson |
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JUDGE CRANE BEING HONORED ?? |
It has come to our attention that Judge Crane who was the prosecutor during Ryan’s trial is being recognized as a Hall of Leaders honoree by Columbia Public Schools on October 20, 2011.
There are currently serious allegations against Mr. Crane pending in the Missouri courts concerning his involvement in Ryan’s case. Court records clearly show that Mr. Crane lied to the jury in his closing argument during Ryan’s trial in 2005. It was also proven at that time that Crane and his investigators attempted to hide witnesses by not disclosing crucial information gained through interviews that the prosecution had conducted prior to the trial. More recently the only witnesses who testified against Ryan during the trial, as well as other key witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they lied on the stand and that their lies were aided and abetted by the prosecutor, Kevin Crane. There is mounting evidence that Kevin Crane committed suborned perjury by knowingly putting witnesses with false testimony on the stand.
If you are interested in contesting the schools decision to honor Mr. Crane you can write to Superintendent Chris Belcher and the board members by sending letters to:
Columbia Public Schools
1818 West Worley Street
Columbia, Missouri 65203 |
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Ryan’s Habeas Hearing For New Evidence
has been moved to April 16, 2012 |
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| Hi-lights from Ryan's Petition - filed 2-14-11 |
| ***The only two witnesses that testified against Ryan (Jerry Trump and Chuck Erickson) have now admitted to giving false testimony during Ryan's Trial. |
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| ***Jerry Trump and Charles Erickson have now stated Prosecutor Crane aided and abetted in their false testimony |
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| ***That Prosecutor Crane knowingly allowed and encouraged Trump and Erickson's false testimony to be heard in court. |
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* * * * * AFFIDAVITS * * * * *
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Please Review a Timeline of Recent and Current Activity
(click here)
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Inside Columbia Magazine Article
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Judges and jurors say his son Ryan is guilty of murder, but Bill Ferguson is unwavering in his belief that the system has failed his innocent child. --- By Michael Jonathan Grinfeld
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Motion For Rehearing to the Western Court of Appeals September 10, 2010 --- PLEASE READ
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* * * * * SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 * * * * *
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Oral Arguments were heard August 5, 2010 at the Western District Court of Appeals in Kansas City, Mo.
The WD three judge panel decided Erickson's sworn statement should never have been accepted by them as a part of the 29.15 Ineffective Assistance Appeal.
We had two issues before the WD Court of Appeals.
The first was Ryan's 29.15 (ineffective assistance) and the second was Charles Erickson's November 2009 Sworn Video Statement.
The appellate court decided that because Erickson's Sworn Statement had not yet been cross examined by the state it could not be considered as evidence by the court.
On August 10 Ryan's attorney filed a motion asking the WD Court to forward our appeal to the Cole County Court as a Habeas Hearing. This would allow the state the opportunity to question Erickson for the first time. The motion specifically asked the court to 1) stay the pending Rule 29.15 Appeal 2) accept the pending Motion to Remand as a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus and 3) order an evidentiary hearing in the Circuit Court of Cole County.
On August 23 the WD Court ruled on the motion for leave to supplement prayer for relief and decided Ryan's lawyer could add this request to the 29.15. As it turns out this move by the WD Court was meaningless in our efforts to procure a habeas hearing. It appears that Ryan's attorneys still have to petition the court for a habeas hearing.
August 31 the WD Court denied Ryan's 29.15 Ineffective Assistance Appeal which also opposes what was stipulated in the prayer for relief.
On September 10 Kathleen sent a copy of her latest motion for a 'rehearing or in the alternative for transfer to the Supreme Court of Mo'. In this document Zellner is appealing back to the WD court for them to rehear the court's Aug. 31 order denying Ryan post conviction relief.
If the case proceeds to the Supreme Court we again will have two issues.
One is our appeal in reference to the 29.15.
The second is Charles Erickson's Sworn Statement.
Meanwhile we will file for a Habeas Petition with the Cole County Court for actual innocence in reference to Charles Erickson's Sworn Video Statement. Once we are granted a habeas hearing we will be allowed to present additional new evidence. This hearing will give the State the opportunity to cross examine Charles Erickson for the first time.
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In a completely different issue related to Ryan's Case the Eastern District Court of Appeals in St. Louis, Mo ruled that Donald Preston be given a new trial because his Lincoln County jury had acted unconstitutionally.
Some Lincoln County Jury members have been allowed to op-out of jury duty with a $50/community service payment to the court.
The ED Court ruled this Jury policy was unconstitutional and as a result ruled that Preston should be given a new trial.
These are the same issues, same county court, same unconstitutional policy we claimed in 2008 in Ryan's case.
We appealed to the Cole County Court in a Habeas Hearing. The Court denied our appeal saying too much time had elapsed and that we should have discovered this mistake sooner.
Preston discovered his claim after we filed but was still granted relief. The ED Court ruled that there is no time limit and the number of Jury members released was not an issue. In Preston's jury there were 13 jury members and in Ryan's there were 7 released from duty.
The state has until September 15 to appeal the ED Court's decision to the Missouri Supreme Court to decide whether or not to affirm the ED Court's decision.
We are certain the state will file an appeal
We are optimistic that the Supreme Court will affirm the ED Court of Appeals jury decision as this is a constitutional issue and a violation of Missouri Law.
This decision could affect over 20 cases in Lincoln County as well as Ryan's case.
We were turned down on this same issue by the Cole County Court, we appealed and were turned down by the WD Court of Appeals, and we appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court who refused to hear our appeal in early 2009.
Now we have a situation where the WD and ED courts are in disagreement. The Supreme Court must decide which court ruled correctly.
If the Supreme Court affirms the ED Court we can file for relief for Ryan in reference to the jury issue. This should allow Ryan a new trial as with Donald Preston
In the future depending on a possible affirmed decision from the Supreme Court Ruling in reference to the ED Court of Appeals Jury Issue we may file a Federal Habeas Petition related to the unconstitutional ruling by the Cole County Court and the Western District Courts in our earlier jury issue which was denied. Ryan should be given a new trial
Update August 24
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/aug/24/hearing-request-granted-ferguson-appeal/?news
Columbia Tribune 8-31-10---9-2-10
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/sep/01/jury-duty-ruling-contradicts-earlier-ferguson-deci/
Columbia Missourian August 31
Link to Jury Ruling
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/08/31/ferguson-appeal-rejected-defense-vows-continue/
Eastern Appeals Court Ruling September 1, 2010
http://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=40859 |
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* * * * * AUGUST 9, 2010 * * * * *
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Thursday August 5, 2010 The Western Court of Appeals in Kansas City heard Ryan's Oral Argument.
Kathleen Zellner brilliantly presented Ryan's case. It was a treat to see Kathleen in action. We knew she was good but one needs to personally experience her performance to fully appreciate her talents and skills.
We came away with a very positive feeling about Ryan's appeal.
The judges will make their decision in about two months.
The wait is always agonizing, more so for Ryan but still difficult for all of us.
Now we wait once again.
It's been almost six and a half years since Ryan was falsely arrested for a crime he did not and could not have committed |
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* * * * * UPDATE * * * * *
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| 1. August 5 - the Western District Court of Appeals has scheduled Ryan's Oral Arguments which will be held in Kansas City Missouri 10:30am. |
| 2. Kathleen Zellner Ryan's attorney summated Ryan's Reply Brief on July 12, several days ahead of the due date |
| 3. CBS 48 Hours will film the Oral Arguments |
| 4. CBS 48 Hours is planning to release an updated version of Ryan's story which will hopefully air this September considering all the new evidence discovered since the 2005 trial. |
| 5. The Reply Brief is attached to this document. (PDF) |
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The Reply Brief must be restricted to 5,000 words.
The Brief answers objections from the State.
This is very exciting |
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RYAN FERGUSON PASSES POLYGRAPH 4-9-10
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| Ryan has passed a polygraph examination administered to him by Fred Hunter on April 9th, 2010. Ryan's polygraph results show that he had no involvement in the strangulation and robbery of Kent Heitholt. (note: resume of Fred Hunter) |
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INTERSTING DEVELOPMENT ! 3-29-10
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| We placed an ad in the Columbia Daily Tribune, which ran Friday, Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. ( This is the ad that was placed...click here) |
It has stirred up quite a bit of controversy. The Tribune reported on this ad in an article on the front page of yesterday's paper. Here is the link to that article. |
Once you read the article you will see that the prosecutor is saying that we (the defense) could file a motion with the Boone County Court to have the touch DNA testing preformed without challenging them (the prosecution) to do so. The prosecutor is being disingenuous. There is no venue for the
defense to file a motion to have this testing conducted as Ryan's case is currently before the Western District Appellate Court and they do not accept new evidence at this stage of the appeal process. The case is not in the hands of the Boone County Court so to file a motion is not possible and the prosecutor knows this!
The important thing to understand from this is that the prosecutor ON HIS OWN AUTHORITY could order the testing started TODAY if he were truly interested in justice! Anything short of this is just a delay tactic. |
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ANNOUNCEMENT ! 3-29-10
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| This week the appellate court granted the prosecution a two month extension to respond to the brief Ryan's lawyer submitted to the court on February 19th. The prosecution's response was due
March 19th. The day before the due date they asked for an extension which was granted now delaying the legal process until May 21, another couple of months.
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ANNOUNCEMENT ! 3-8-10
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The Western District Court of Appeals decided on March 2, 2010 to take into consideration Erickson's latest statement admitting that he alone murdered the victim and that Ryan had nothing to do with this crime. Erickson said he committed perjury when he testified against Ryan during the trial in 2005.
In their decision to not remand the case back to Boone County, the Western District Court has now taken the decision away from Judge Asel and the Boone County Court. The
Western District Court will make their own ruling as to whether or not to grant Ryan a new trial.
"This was our Number hope, but we didn't really think it would happen." Ryan Ferguson's lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, said Tuesday.
In a brief filed with the appellate court, Zellner argues that the wording and content of Boone County Circuit Judge Jodie Asel's 2009 decision not to grant Ferguson a new trial is almost identical to the prosecutor's proposed findings.
In an interview, Zellner said this was "highly improper". |
New Web Site Related to the current motion since Charles Erickson's Sworn Murder and perjury Confession
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Columbia Tribune
March 2, 2010
Court agrees to consider new deposition in murder case appeal |
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Schedule:
The state has 30 days to respond to Ryan's brief dated February 19, 2010.
State's Response due March 19.
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Ryan's attorney will then have 14 days to respond to the State.
Next the Western District Court of Appeals will schedule Oral Arguments.
We are guessing this might be set for June or July.
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ANNOUNCEMENT ! 2-9-10
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| First we want to thank each of you for your tremendous support. Ryan is doing well and wanted to extend his thanks to each of you for your well wishes, prayers and continued help in getting the truth out about his case. |
As of Monday morning Ryan's attorney filed a motion to remand Charles Erickson latest statement to the local court asking that it be entered as evidence as a part of the brief requesting a new trial |
The Western District Court of Appeals will be deciding whether to remand Ryan's motion to the Boone County Court. If this should occur Charles Erickson will be questioned under oath in the local court. We are being told this decision will be made in the next 5 days. If Erickson's statement is not remanded we would continue with our brief, which is due February 16 and we would submit the Erickson Video Statement at a later date. |
48 Hours has been in contact and wants to do a follow-up program
as an update to Ryan's case. |
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UPDATE ! 7-17-09
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| Judge Asel sat on her decision regarding Ryan's 29.15 appeal for 11 months. Her decision to deny Ryan a new trial was entered on June 12, 2009. This decision did not surprise us when we took into consideration the relationship Judge Asel has with the former prosecutor (now judge) Kevin Crane. Judge Asel's husband is an executive in the same company which is owned by Kevin Crane's father-in-law to be. In light of this relationship it seems that Judge Asel should have recused herself from this case. It is shocking to us that this kind of impropriety is allowed within our judicial system. We are currently appealing her decision. |
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HABEAS PETITION UPDATE ! 1-09-09
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Judge Callahan handed down his decision on January 9, 2009 concerning the jury issue, which was on appeal in Cole County. He ruled against Ryan by denying his habeas petition. Judge Callahan found that our claim was procedurally barred in a habeas petition because it should have been brought up earlier. He says that too much time has passed and we should have presented this information way back during the trial.
Ryan's lawyers did not discover this information until July of 2008, three years after the trial. The judge also found that, although the seating of the jury was not in compliance with the statute, it was not "substantial noncompliance" because it was only 13 people out of the 848 called. This was disappointing news but we will appeal this decision. |
Meanwhile Judge Asel in Boone County is now free to make her decision regarding Ryan's Ineffective Assistance 29.15 Appeal. We are hoping for her positive decision to be made soon. |
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UPDATE ! 12-19-08
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As you may know an evidentiary hearing was held in Cole County before Judge Callahan on Monday, December 15. Evidence was presented pertaining to the issue of the Lincoln County judge allowing members of the jury pool at the time of Ryan's trial to buy their way off jury duty.
his is a violation of Missouri Law and a violation of Ryan's constitutional rights to Due Process and Equal Protection under the law. We feel the hearing went well. Both sides have until January 5, 2009 to turn in their summaries. Then we await yet another decision from the court. |
Ryan is now waiting for decisions from both Boone and Cole County to determine if he will receive a new trial. |
For more information please ---- click here |
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UPDATE ! 9-08-08
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| Ryan's attorney was back in court on Sept 2, with a new motion arguing that the jury selection process in the 2005 trial had been improper and violated Ryan's constitutional rights. It was discovered that the judge in Lincoln County, which is where Ryan's jury was selected, had allowed members from the jury pool to pay $50 and do 6 hours of community service instead of serving jury duty. 12 members of Ryan's jury pool took advantage of this process. No one had ever heard of a judge doing something like this before. This denied Ryan the right to a jury composed of a random cross section of the community. Judge Asel decided not to rule on this issue this week but instead passed it on to Cole County where it would have to be filed as a habeas corpus petition. |
Here is a link to the article published this week regarding this issue... click here |
It seems that new information keeps turning up in Ryan's case. When Ryan is finally set free we are confident that his case is going to expose so much of what is wrong with our legal system. |
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--- Ryan's Hearing ---
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Ryan's hearing in July shed new light on his case. Many witnesses who never took the stand in the 2005 trial got a chance to testify during this hearing. The evidence was overwhelmingly in Ryan's favor, giving additional proof that he had absolutely nothing to do with this horrific crime. Dallas Mallory and Shawna Ornt took the stand and spoke of the intimidation tactics used by the police and the prosecutor.
Shawna Ornt testified that the two suspects she saw in the parking lot were not Ryan or Chuck.
Dallas Mallory testified that he never saw or spoke to Chuck or Ryan that morning.
These are but a few of the witnesses that spoke to Ryan's innocence.
When the police and prosecutor took the stand it was easy to see from their demeanor that they had their reputations to protect and would continue to try to cover for the deceptive roles they played in getting Ryan convicted.
A good example is the link below of Former Prosecutor Crane testifying on the last day of the hearing July 18, 2008.
Ryan's attorney, Val Leftwich, was given 60 days to write up her summation. Then the assistant prosecutor has an additional two week before it is submitted to Judge Asel. Once it is in Asel's hands she has an undetermined amount of time to make her decision. We are hopeful that we will know something by Christmas.
A supporter who works as a private producer has made two YouTube videos to help increase awareness about Ryan's case and plans to produce a complete documentary in the near future. |
We could use additional funds to help pay for the production costs.
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Links to the YouTube videos, Kevin Crane, and the photograph are below:
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- New evidence and testimony in Ryan's Hearing 16-18 July (Part I)
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- New evidence and testimony in Ryan's Hearing 16-18 July (Part II)
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- Crane lying under oath 7-18-08
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- Photograph in question
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UPDATE ! March 10, 2008
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Ryan's motion for Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, amended rule 29.15 to vacate judgment and sentence, was filed March 3, 2008 with the Boone County Circuit Court. A hearing is currently set for May 6, 2008 but is subject to change. A copy of the 86 page motion which also outlines several Brady violations is available through the link below. We are optimistic about the motion and feel the truth is finally coming out.
If you will follow the instructions below, you can get a copy of Ryan's 29.15 appeal.
Here is the site: http://rmri.no-ip.org/mydms
User ID: guest
Password: guest
Follow this path: RMRI Inc Private Investigator Files For The Public / RMRI Inc Public Articles / Ryan Ferguson Case / Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Appeal / Ryan Ferguson Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Appeal |
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UPDATE ! January
22,
2008
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Ryan's attorney, Val Leftwich, filed several motions with the Boone County
Circuit Court. One motion pertained to the DNA and
fingerprints in the case. Two others pertained to obtaining
Erickson's mental health records as well as a request for a current mental
health evaluation.
We visit Ryan every week and he continues to stay strong. We are
all encouraged and know that it is just a matter of time before his innocence is
proven. In the next 2 months his attorney will present the results of
their investigation to the court. We want to thank each of you for your
continued support. |
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UPDATE ! November 2007
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| Ryan filed a
motion
for
ineffective
assistance
for
counsel.
At
this
level
of
the
appeal
new
evidence
can
be
introduced
and
witnesses
can
be
subpoenaed
and
deposed. This
will
be
our
first
opportunity
to
present
new
and
crucial
evidence
that will
prove
Ryan's
innocence. |
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48 Hours
Mystery
'Dream
Killer'
video is still available online.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/16/48hours/main1322783.shtml
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