Image via WikipediaTestifying (again): I'm in Columbia, MO to testify in a hearing on the Ferguson case. I've written about this case, before (here), and also here; it's a very unusual case, involving memory, forgetting, a possible false memory, and murder. Here's a recent article in the local paper about where the case was, as of yesterday. As the article states, there were two defendants accused of the murder of a newspaper sports writer. One of the guys, Erickson, said that he began (2 or 3 years after the crime) to remember that he and the other guy, Ferguson, committed the murder. Erickson pled guilty; Ferguson went to trial. Erickson testified against Ferguson at the trial, and Ferguson was convicted. Ferguson has always denied his involvement. A quote from the newspaper: "Ferguson, 23, was convicted in October 2005 of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery in Heitholt’s slaying. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison, which he is serving at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Ferguson and his family have proclaimed his innocence since his March 2004 arrest, contending co-defendant Chuck Erickson dreamed of his and Ferguson’s involvement in the crime. Heitholt was found early Nov. 1, 2001, beaten and strangled in the Tribune parking lot."
I will be testifying today. Apparently they want me to tell the Court about Erickson's mental condition when I examined him before the trial, and also about my interactions with Ferguson's attorney. One of the claims that Ferguson's lawyer is making is that his lawyers did not effectively represent him at trial (this is the claim that is nearly always made after a person is convicted and imprisoned, and after his appeals have been denied; it is considered a sort of last-ditch effort, and is very rarely successful).
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