Iain’s Blog

CONWAY —  After nearly four hours of deliberations, a jury came back with a not guilty verdict in the trial of Miles Lee Ferguson 27 of Portsmouth , Ohio, who was accused of killing his 5-week-old daughter.

“This young man wasn’t guilty but he has lived a nightmare for these past three years and you can see the stress they have all been under is immeasurable and I’m just so happy for them because his family needs him and the last place in the world for him to be is in the penitentiary,“ said defense attorney Morgan Martin.

Ferguson, 27, was charged with homicide by child abuse in Mylee Grace Ferguson’s death.

Ferguson wouldn’t comment but kept repeating, “praise the Lord,“ as he hugged his wife, family and friends.

Ferguson cried heavily as he thanked the jury and court personnel minutes after the verdict was announced.

Dozens of supporters who have been lining up since the trial started Nov. 9 outside the Horry County Courthouse in Conway cheered as Ferguson walked outside Wednesday night.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys finished their closing arguments shortly after 5pm Wednesday.

Ferguson sat sobbing holding his wife’s hand as Martin told the jury about how his client “is not a violent man… look at him, he is a good boy, he loved that baby.“

Martin continued to say, “this isn’t an ‘I think he might done it, this isn’t a he probably done it this isn’t a sure don’t look good this is beyond each and every reasonable doubt and if there is a real possibility that (that) young man is not guilty then it’s your obligation to acquit him.”

“It makes sense that what he did, didn’t have to be a premeditated evil, it didn’t have to have a motive, but he snapped and it’s the sad truth, and it happens to people,“ said Fifteenth Circuit Assistant Solicitor Candice Lively.

Prosecutors also presented rebuttal witness Wednesday morning.
Shannon Karlayne Toole, a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, took the stand where prosecutors asked her whether Ferguson ever mentioned or demonstrated that he shook his baby during his conversation with her.
Toole replied she doesn’t recall Ferguson ever did that.
Shortly after Toole’s testimony and during a short break, Ashlee Ferguson, the defendant’s wife, walked up to Toole and said, “You lied … you’re a liar.”
Lively made sure that the court, minus the presence of thee jury, was aware of the encounter.
“Your honor, I know there is a lot of tension in this case and emotions are very high, but we deserve to have a fair trial,” Lively said.
Toole went back on the stand and told 15th Circuit Court Judge Ben Culbertson about the incident prosecutors say made her feel intimidated by Ashlee Ferguson.
The state maintained that Ferguson shook Mylee to death.
“Why would a demonstration be important in the case, such as in a child abuse case?” Lively asked.
“This case, from when I got the call, was in reference to what appear to be a shaken baby syndrome; therefore what I responded by assuming that the child had been shaken by somebody,”  state witness Karen Sams, of the state Department Social Services Office in Charleston, testified.
Ferguson took the stand Tuesday to defend himself.
Police said Mylee was beaten at a home near Arcadian Shores in 2007 while the Fergusons vacationed in Myrtle Beach from Ohio. Ferguson claims his baby was unresponsive and he shook her to revive, not kill, her.
Fergusons’s defense team presented several of his family and friends as witnesses to the jury Tuesday.
“He is a great man,” the defendant’s wife testified. “No one could ask for a better husband than him.”
During the state’s cross examination, prosecutors kept asking Ferguson if he shook his baby.
Ferguson, visibly agitated, replied. “ I would never shake my baby violently. No one should ever shake a baby …  ever.”
Lively asked Ferguson to use a doll to describe exactly what happened the day he realized something was wrong with his baby.
Ferguson, who was 24 at the time of Mylee’s death, originally was charged with assault and battery with the intent to kill in August 2007. But those charges were elevated after the investigation began.

Hi,

apologies for those that may keep the odd eye on this page, be they friend or foe, but been very busy work wise and lots of other things going on, playing games etc.

A few things come up of late, but not at liberty to say yet, but very pleased by them and lets just leave it at that. But you wouldn’t believe the things some people will do.

Justice still confuses me, as I am not sure when the one set of laws for most of us and another for the more ‘elite’ and I use that sooooo loosely, came in.

Reading about the abuse by the Australian staff of British Children who were shipped over there just highlights it again. We heard the Aussie PM apologise (good of him I guess - but taken their time eh what).

Which means Mr Brown still hasn’t apologised for it. But words can be cheap and not always heartfelt. What worries me more I read NOTHING on how many staff, ministers etc were brought before the courts and punished?

They told the children their parents had died and shipped them out to Oz. So its not our Aussie cousins who have to aplogise as much, as what the HELL was the British Government doing practising child abuse - surely thats mental cruelty?  

Of course they have now learnt their lessons…….oooh sorry that should read NO they haven’t learnt their lesson as still it goes on. Abusing kids as well as other things like screwing the system for what they can get is okay if your an official.

Talking of one rule for one lot and another for CERTAIN experts, leads me to the news that because of the many cases and ‘bad’ press regarding certain could they be ’self professed’ experts. There is a meeting next month with alot of the highly regarded and also in my eyes the others who highly regard their own self opinions whilst slating any other respected colleagues, who happen not to agree (you know who you are - and so do we).

So maybe if the system is starting to reflect on the so called evidence of these sort of cases we may finally be off the starting blocks, the CPS are also starting to look into these cases - shame they just didn’t remember the guidelines after Harris etc (maybe we wouldn’t keep having Miscarriages of Justice if they had learnt the lessons first time), just need the Police to look at the training for Investigating Officers, and of course then we need Social, OFSTED, and the likes of the National Childminding Association to look at their activities in a truly open and adult way (not behind closed doors eh), involve those that could reflect and make this better, safer and just for all concerned.

Too many wanna be heroes out there, letting emotions, egos rule the day.

I used to know SBS as the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) and not Shaken Baby Syndrome (ooh we have changed the name again to fool the public - sorry I forget).

The odd thing is the motto of the daring doer’s in the Special Boats is ‘Not by strength by guile’. Which you could think is exactly what the CPS did….

No evidence just smoke and mirror the jury, look we have loads, lots of flash bang whizz technology, lots of letters after names - but none of it is known or proven a 100% is it….

Some people should be ashamed, but maybe their ’strengths’ is their weakness. Maybe you should take the blindfold off and let the light in?

In the military one command when on the firing range is ‘watch and shoot’ - inferring you just wait for your target to pop up….then blast it.

Patience is a virtue…….

Still watching, still waiting.

Whilst you keep digging your hole ever deeper…soon you’ll be in Oz. Maybe you can ask PM Kevin Rudd the art of apology??

Must go, more chapters to add.

 Stay safe friends. Foe …. keep digging.