State v. Ferguson

This is an appeal of defendant Jeffrey Ferguson’s second conviction and death sentence for the 1989 murder of Kelli Hall. The first conviction was overturned because of instructional error. State v. Ferguson, 887 S.W.2d 585 (Mo. banc 1994). In this case, like the other, Ferguson was convicted by a jury in the St. Louis County Circuit Court of murder in the first degree, section 565.020, RSMo 1986, and the trial court, following the jury’s recommendation, sentenced Ferguson to death. The post-conviction court overruled his Rule 29.15 motion without an evidentiary hearing. Because the death…