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If you watched the 33rd season of The Amazing Race, then you are well aware of who Ryan Ferguson is. Ferguson is the contestant who spent nearly 10 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of the 2001 murder of journalist Kent Heitholt in Columbia, Missouri when he was just 17-years-old.
This week, he was awarded $38 million in damages by a jury after Traveler’s Insurance failed to pay him the money owed to him from a lawsuit he won in 2017.
ABC 17 News reports Travelers Insurance covered the City of Columbia for law enforcement liability from 2006-11 for up to $2 million per year. Travelers was ordered to give Ferguson $1 million for each year he was in prison under their policy.
Travelers Insurance claimed in a 2019 appeal that because Ryan Ferguson’s wrongful conviction occurred before the city’s insurance policy was in effect that they weren’t responsible for paying the judgement.
Ferguson had his conviction vacated in November 2013 with help from attorney Kathleen Zellner, who took over his case in 2009. Zellner is the same attorney who has been working to free Making a Murderer subject Steven Avery and served as a consultant to Johnny Depp in his legal fight against his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Now, Traveler’s Insurance is on the hook for $2.9 million in damages from Ferguson’s lawsuit, plus an additional $35 million in punitive damages.
“This verdict will have a widespread effect on wrongful conviction cases across the country when the insurer refuses to participate in the settlement negotiations and refuses to pay their share of the verdict immediately,” said Zellner. “Justice was finally served for Ryan Ferguson. The jury heard us loud and clear.”
Ferguson will receive 86 percent of the payout, while six police officers who worked on the initial murder case will get the other 14 percent. The officers were added to Ryan Ferguson’s lawsuit as plaintiffs when Travelers Insurance denied them civil rights violation coverage.
“The officers were put in a no-win situation and Ryan was put in a situation where he could not collect his verdict without being able to sue Travelers on behalf of the officers,” Zellner said. “Ryan has now won ($)48 million $905,000 as a result of his wrongful conviction. This is the highest verdict in the United States for 10 years of imprisonment.”