Colin Ferguson (convict)

Infobox civilian attack
title=Colin Ferguson

---

caption=Mugshot of Colin Ferguson
location= Merillon Avenue, Garden City, Long Island, New York
target=Commuters
date=December 7, 1993
type=mass murder,
fatalities=6
injuries=19
perps=Colin Ferguson
weapons=Ruger P-89 9mm pistol

Colin Ferguson (born January 14, 1958, Kingston, Jamaica) was convicted of murdering six people and injuring nineteen others on the Long Island Rail Road in Garden City, New York on December 7, 1993. As the train pulled into the Merillon Avenue Station, Ferguson pulled out his gun and started firing at passengers. He killed six and wounded nineteen before being stopped by three of the passengers: Kevin Blum, Mark McEntee, and Mike O'Connor. Ferguson's trial was notable for a number of unusual developments, including his firing of his defense counsel and insisting on representing himself and examining himself as a live witness.

Trial

Ferguson's defense team had proposed an innovative defense that he had been driven to temporary insanity by black rage, and that he should not be held criminally liable, even though he had committed the killings. However, Ferguson insisted that he had not committed the shootings and chose to represent himself. Ferguson's attorney was quoted in the "Associated Press" (August 12, 1994) as saying,:"Without a psychiatric defense, Ferguson has no defense. There was no doubt that he was there, that he fired the weapon, that he would have fired it more if he had not been wrestled to the ground. There is no doubt that Colin Ferguson, if sane, was guilty."

Before the trial, William Kunstler and Ron Kuby attempted to argue that Ferguson was driven to mental illness through years of living in an oppressive and racist society. They argued that Ferguson's insistence on representing himself and not pleading insanity demonstrated his psychological incompetence to stand trial. This submission was rejected by the presiding judge Donald E. Belfi. Ferguson was found competent to stand trial at the Nassau County Court, and allowed to represent himself ("pro se").

A 2002 book by trial consultant Mark C. Bardwell and criminal justice professor Bruce A. Arrigo examined the competency issues in the Ferguson case. [cite book
last = Bardwell
first = Mark C.
authorlink =
coauthors = Bruce A. Arrigo
title = Criminal Competency on Trial: The Case of Colin Ferguson
publisher = Carolina Academic Press
date = 2002
location =
pages =
url = http://www.cap-press.com/books/1195
doi =
id = ISBN 0890890706 ]

Ferguson's trial proved to be bizarre as he would be cross examining the police that arrested him and victims he shot. It was broadcast live by local media and Court TV, but was constantly overshadowed by the O.J. Simpson murder case going on simultaneously on the west coast.

Ferguson argued that the 93 counts he was charged with were related to 1993, and had it been 1925 he would've been charged with only 25 counts. He admitted bringing the gun onto the train, but claimed that he fell asleep, and another man grabbed his gun and began firing. He also argued that a mysterious man named Mr. Su had information concerning a conspiracy against him. He also found another man who was willing to testify that the government implanted a computer chip in Ferguson's brain, but at the last minute decided not to call him to the stand. His cross examination questions mostly started with "Is it your testimony..." and would simply force the witness to repeat testimony already given. When a witness refused to answer the question to his satisfaction he would often ask the judge to "admonish the witness to answer the question". Legal experts pointed out that Ferguson's questions were pointless and were not geared towards rebutting testimony. By not recognizing when to object to testimony and closing arguments, he would lose his right to appeal on those grounds. Among the defense witnesses Ferguson requested was President Bill Clinton. After his conviction, he was put in the unenviable position to argue in appellate briefs that he had incompetent counsel (himself).

Ferguson was convicted on February 17, 1995 of murder for the death of the six passengers who died of their injuries:
*Amy LoCicero Federici
*James Gorycki
*Mikyung Kim
*Theresa Magtoto
*Dennis McCarthy
*Richard Nettleton He was also convicted of attempted murder for wounding nineteen passengers during the mass murder. He received 315 years and eight months to life, meaning his current earliest possible parole date is August 6, 2309. He also received the judge's promise that "Colin Ferguson will never return to society, and will spend the rest of his natural life in prison". At the sentencing, Judge Donald E. Belfi called Ferguson a "selfish, self-righteous coward". He also used the sentencing as an opportunity to criticize New York's controversial Sentencing Cap Law, which would have capped Ferguson's sentence at 50 years had no one died in the massacre because all of the felonies he committed on the train were part of one occurrence, therefore all sentences would have been served concurrently and capped at 50 years.

Ferguson is currently serving his sentence at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

Aftermath

Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband Denis McCarthy was killed by Ferguson, and whose son, Kevin McCarthy, was severely injured, was subsequently elected to the United States Congress on a platform of gun control. She was motivated to run for Congress after the representative in her district Dan Frisa voted against an assault weapons bill. Some of Ferguson's other victims and their family members have also become involved in gun control efforts.

McCarthy also sued Olin Corporation, the parent of Winchester Ammunition under products liability and negligence theories for their manufacture of the Black Talon bullets used by Ferguson. The suit failed for numerous reasons, most notably that New York law placed no responsibility on manufacturers for the criminal misuse of their products and that legislatures, not courts, should make decisions relating to regulating weapons. ["McCarthy v. Olin Corp." 119 F.3d 148 (2nd Cir. 1997).]

Gun rights advocates frequently citeFact|date=June 2008 the Ferguson attack on the commuter train as an example of the danger of disarming the populationFact|date=June 2008, arguing that Ferguson was able to shoot as many victims as he did because no other person on the train was able to return fire.Fact|date=June 2008

Most of the regular commuters who used the 5:33 Hicksville Local returned to the train the day after the shootings. Interviewed by the media, a number cited the need to face their fears and the trauma created by the crimes rather than avoid riding their regular train.

The railroad did not discontinue the scheduled train or alter its schedule after the shootings, and the 5:33 Hicksville Local continues to operate. The car (M3 9891) in which the shootings occurred was refurbished and renumbered (to 9945) and still operates on the LIRR.

Ferguson was the subject of a Saturday Night Live comedy sketch in which he, portrayed by Tim Meadows, declared "I did not shoot them, they shot me" and asked witnesses questions about shooting him while they were on the stand.

During the 1993 summer excursion season the LIRR presented a dinner theater mystery, "Murder on the Montauk Express", on its premier Friday evening train to the resorts of the Hamptons and Montauk. The play was not renewed after the Ferguson murders.

In 1994, Ferguson was apparently involved in a fistfight with fellow inmate Joel Rifkin. The brawl began after an argument regarding "whose killings were better". Other sources say the fight was also (or perhaps only) about telephone privileges. [ [http://www.orlandoweekly.com/columns/story.asp?id=1243 Orlando Weekly article about Colin Ferguson] ]

ee also

"The Long Island Incident"

References