According to a press release issued Friday afternoon by Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight, Assistant Missouri Attorney General Susan Boresi has been appointed as a special prosecutor in the Ryan Ferguson case.
Knight’s office had to request permission from a circuit court to bring in a special prosecutor, and the request was granted. In the request, Knight wrote that the appointment was needed because his office had a conflict of interest in the case because of current and former employees.
Knight had no further comment on the issue. Ferguson’s murder conviction in the 2001 murder of Kent Heitholt was vacated earlier this week by the Missouri Western District court of appeals.
It is not clear what the special prosecutor means for the legal proceedings: at this point the state can either try to move the case where the conviction was vacated to the Missouri Supreme Court, or express its intention to re-try Ferguson. If the state does nothing, Ferguson would be released within 30 days. Ferguson’s attorney has also requested bond. We break down the complicated legal options and what they mean for Ferguson here.
