With multi-million dollar award pending, Ryan Ferguson’s attorney asks for court update
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Attorneys for Ryan Ferguson are asking for an update on a possible multi-million dollar award for his wrongful conviction.
Jefferson City attorney Michael Berry asked Judge Cotton Walker for an update in his pending decision on how much Ferguson will be awarded from Travelers' Insurance.
A Cole County jury found the insurance company liable for bad faith and vexatious refusal for not paying a portion of Ferguson's $11 million settlement with several Columbia Police Department detectives for his murder conviction and incarceration. The jury ordered a $35 million award on top of the $2.9 million they say Travelers' still owes.
A jury on Nov. 1 sided with Ferguson in his lawsuit to get Travelers' Insurance to pay the rest of his owed settlement from 2017. Ferguson spent a decade behind bars when he was arrested, charged and convicted for Kent Heitholt's killing in 2000. A state appeals court reversed the conviction in 2013 over claims police and prosecutors did not turn over exculpatory evidence to Ferguson's defense.
Both sides spent the months since November's verdict asking Walker to either enhance or reduce the final award. Berry asked Walker to schedule a hearing to discuss those motions. He suggested a July 7 hearing, but it will ultimately be up to the judge to set a hearing.
Ferguson's attorneys have asked for more than $60 million, factoring in interest on the judgement, while Travelers' Insurance is calling for just the $2.9 million owed.
