Latest news with #Ferguson
Toronto Star
39 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
An insurance firm is ordered to pay $44M in a lawsuit filed by a man freed from prison in Missouri
A man won $11 million in a lawsuit against police after his conviction for killing a Missouri newspaper's sports editor was overturned, but the city's former insurer resisted paying most of it for almost three years. A Missouri judge this week ordered the company to pay nearly $44 million. Most of the money would go to Ryan Ferguson, whose legal battle with Minnesota-based St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. in Missouri's courts started in 2017, about six weeks after he won a federal lawsuit against six Columbia police officers. Ferguson was convicted in 2004 of killing Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt but was released from prison in 2013 after a state appeals court panel concluded that he hadn't received a fair trial. Ferguson maintained his innocence.
Winnipeg Free Press
42 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
An insurance firm is ordered to pay $44M in a lawsuit filed by a man freed from prison in Missouri
A man won $11 million in a lawsuit against police after his conviction for killing a Missouri newspaper's sports editor was overturned, but the city's former insurer resisted paying most of it for almost three years. A Missouri judge this week ordered the company to pay nearly $44 million. Most of the money would go to Ryan Ferguson, whose legal battle with Minnesota-based St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. in Missouri's courts started in 2017, about six weeks after he won a federal lawsuit against six Columbia police officers. Ferguson was convicted in 2004 of killing Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt but was released from prison in 2013 after a state appeals court panel concluded that he hadn't received a fair trial. Ferguson maintained his innocence. The city insurer paid Ferguson $2.7 million almost immediately after he won his federal lawsuit, and his attorneys expected St. Paul to pay $8 million under its coverage for the officers from 2006 to 2011. But the company argued that it wasn't on the hook because the actions leading to Ferguson's arrest and imprisonment occurred before its coverage began. While Ferguson sought to collect, the officers argued that St. Paul was acting in bad faith, shifting the burden to them as individuals and forcing them to face bankruptcy. Ferguson's lawyers took up those claims, and Missouri courts concluded that St. Paul was obligated to pay $5.3 million for the time Ferguson was in prison while it covered the officers. It paid in 2020. But the payment didn't end the dispute, and in November, a jury concluded that St. Paul had acted in bad faith and engaged in a 'vexatious refusal' to pay. Cole County Circuit Judge S. Cotton Walker upheld that finding in his order Monday as he calculated how much money the company would pay — mostly as punishment — under a Missouri law capping such punitive damages. 'It's a way to send a message to insurance companies that if there's coverage, they need to pay,' said Kathleen Zellner, whose firm represents Ferguson. She added: 'You can't just pull the rug out from under people when they've paid the premiums.' The company can appeal the decision. An attorney representing St. Paul did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. Under an agreement between Ferguson and the six officers, they stand to split about $5 million of the $44 million. The award of nearly $44 million includes $3.2 million to compensate Ferguson and the officers, another $24.2 million in punitive damages, $535,000 million for the 'vexatious refusal' allegation and interest on all of the damages totaling about $16 million.
Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Rangers legend issues warning to ‘my mob' amid growing Ferguson to Celtic links
Rangers legend Ally McCoist says he is a 'big fan' of Ireland striker Evan Ferguson - and he fears for his old club is Celtic manage to secure his signing this summer. The Scottsh champions have been with a loan swoop for Ferguson, who looks certain to be sent back out by Brighton after a frustrating spell at West Ham during the second-half of last season. The talk is that the Seagulls will demand assurances of regular game-time from any club interested in taking the Ireland striker. And that would not be an issue at Celtic, with Brendan Rodgers desperate to add to his fire-power ahead of their latest title defence. Ferguson made a total of just eight appearances, with most of those coming from the bench, during is half-season spell with the Hammers, and he failed to register a goal. However, McCoist reckons an injury-free run would see the Meathman return to the kind of form that led him to view Ferguson as one of the game's top breakthrough striking talents. Speaking in Dublin, where on Friday he completed a 555-mile cycle around Ireland as part of the Doddie'5 Lions Challenge, he told Mirror Sport: 'I'm a fan. Oh aye. 'I want him to get fit. I really like Evan Ferguson and I really want him to get fit and stay fit. 'He can finish. Out of all the younger ones coming through, I thought Evan Ferguson was the one to watch. 'Obviously he's got one or two injuries going on that have held him back a bit, but if he keeps himself fit he will score goals anywhere.' McCoist reckons Ferguson would strike fear into defences through Scotland - including across Glasgow at Ibrox. The Gers icon - who scored 355 goals in less than 600 appearances for the Blue side of the Old Firm, and won 10 Scottish titles - fired a warning to his old club. 'The unfortunate thing for my mob is, he could come in and hurt us. Definitely. It wouldn't surprise me at all. I'm a big fan,' said McCoist. Ferguson's arrival at Celtic - should the Bhoys successfully pursue the Ireland striker - would cast doubt over the future of another Boys in Green star. Adam Idah continues to divide opinion among fans of the Scottish giants, despite hitting 20 goals across all competitions - including in three the Champions League - last season. However, McCoist reckons the Corkman has done more than enough to earn the affections of the Parkhead faithful. Idah's crucial goals during his loan spell at Celtic in the 2023/24 season, including the winner against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final, earned him a permanent switch from Norwich. McCoist said: 'He's done well. He has scored important goals. 'I think one thing you have got to do as an Old Firm centre forward is, sure, you have to get goals. 'But as an Old Firm centre-forward, you have got to score against Rangers. And if you are a centre-forward for Rangers you have got to score against Celtic. 'You have got to score important goals and Adam Idah has done that.' McCoist cycled around Ireland with a crew of fundraisers from the rugby and UK media scene, including Kenny and Gabby Logan. The challenge helped raise funds for both My Name'5 Doddie Foundation and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.
USA Today
3 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Rookie TE Terrance Ferguson compared to former Rams star
Terrance Ferguson joins a crowded tight end room but could quickly emerge as the best of the group. The second-round rookie was drafted higher than any other tight end on the Los Angeles Rams, and FOX Sports NFL Draft analyst Rob Rang compared him to another great Rams tight end not named Tyler Higbee — Ernie Conwell. "... Ferguson would go a long way in legitimizing the 46th overall selection by pushing him for playing time as a rookie," Rang wrote. "Conwell offered similarly sure hands down the seam and was a better blocker. The Rams have never had a tight end voted to the Pro Bowl, but Ferguson flashes that kind of upside." Conwell, a second-round pick himself in 1996, caught 146 passes for 1,574 yards and 10 touchdowns in seven years for the Rams. He went on to finish his career with the New Orleans Saints for four seasons. Higbee is actually the Rams' best receiving tight end in team history with 3,668 yards and 24 touchdowns, but Conwell was a more well-rounded player that Rang believes fits a franchise comparison for Ferguson. The hope for L.A. is that the rookie can be the best of both worlds as a great pass-catcher and blocker for the Rams. The team has lacked a true star at the position, and Ferguson could blaze his own path as a franchise tight end for the Rams.
Middle East Eye
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Times publishes column by Israeli wanted by ICC urging Trump to bomb Iran
A former Israeli defence minister with an international warrant out for his arrest has co-written a column with prominent British-American historian Niall Ferguson for The Times of London newspaper urging the US to enter Israel's conflict against Iran. Ferguson and Yoav Gallant, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Gaza, write in the column - which was published on Friday morning - that only the US air force "has the power to finish off Fordow", the site that holds the core of Iran's remaining nuclear enrichment capability. "Israel has done most of the job - now Trump can finish it," reads the piece's headline. The Times is one of Britain's oldest and most prestigious newspapers. Since Friday, when Israel launched its assault on Iran, Israel has repeatedly targeted the country's military and nuclear facilities, as well as assassinated high-profile security, intelligence and military commanders, along with prominent scientists. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The attacks, which have also targeted residential areas, have killed more 500 people and wounded at least 1,300, many of them civilians. In response, Iran has fired barrages of missiles towards Haifa, Tel Aviv and other major Israeli cities, killing dozens. "We both salute the extraordinary skill with which the Israel Defence Forces and Mossad have executed Israel's war plan," Ferguson and Gallant write. "Much of Iran's nuclear weapons programme now lies in ruins, and many of the scientists who ran it are dead. But one key site remains, at Fordow." 'Only America can do this' The column stresses that it is not realistic for Israel to "finish off Fordow". "Only America can do this. Only President Trump can order it." Ferguson and Gallant point to the title of Primo Levi's 1982 novel If Not Now, When?, which is "about a group of Jewish resistance fighters who desperately defy the might of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in the Second World War". Could David Cameron be prosecuted for threatening the ICC? Read More » On 5 November 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also wanted by the ICC, fired Gallant from his post as defence minister, citing a lack of mutual trust between them. Gallant was the defence chief at the time of the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel. He led the military's response, which began as an indiscriminate aerial bombardment campaign that eventually led to a full-scale ground invasion of Gaza. At the beginning of the war, Gallant described Palestinians as "human animals" and announced the imposition of a complete siege on Gaza, cutting off all electricity, fuel and food to the enclave. Ferguson is a historian and the author of Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World (2003) and Civilisation: the West and the Rest (2011). He was a strong supporter of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. "A nuclear-armed Iran would pose more than a threat to the Israeli people and their state," he and Gallant say in their column on Friday. "Its missiles could reach Gulf capitals and Europe." They conclude that "with a single exertion of its unmatched military strength, the US can shorten the war, prevent wider escalation and end the principal threat to Middle Eastern stability". The White House said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump would decide within the next two weeks whether the US would get directly involved in the conflict.
