Charge against ex-sheriff dropped

BENTON, Mo. -- The attorney for former Scott County sheriff William F. "Bill" Ferrell said Monday he sees a decision to drop a stealing charge pending against Ferrell as an affirmation of Ferrell's view that he was unfairly targeted by a prosecutor who had no case.

"There was, in my opinion, never enough evidence to pursue this case," said Ferrell's attorney, James Robison of Sikeston, Mo.

Robison said he had "no idea at all" why Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd sought and obtained the grand jury indictment against Ferrell.

Ferrell was charged in February with felony stealing. The grand jury proceedings came after a state audit completed in October 2006 that questioned Ferrell's handling of the "William Ferrell DARE and Crime Prevention Fund" between Dec. 1, 2004, and Feb. 26, 2005. The audit found that Ferrell, a Scott County sheriff for 28 years before leaving office at the end of 2004, had drained the account at the end of his term, partially to endow a scholarship at Southeast Missouri State University.

Ferrell maintained after the audit findings were released that the money in the fund belonged to him, raised from golf tournaments organized in his name.

The case against Ferrell was dropped late Friday afternoon after St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch decided there was not enough evidence to prosecute.

"We don't feel from the evidence that there is a prosecutable case," said McCulloch assistant Don Schneider. "We will continue to review the case, but at this point we're not going forward with prosecution."

Schneider said the case could be brought again "if further facts come forward" that reveal stronger evidence of a crime.

McCulloch became prosecutor after Boyd asked for and was granted removal from the case on the day the indictment was handed down, citing a conflict of interest. Scott County Circuit Court Judge David Dolan later recused himself for the same reason.

Boyd's conflict of interest became a cornerstone of Ferrell's defense, as Robison filed a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that Boyd's conflict of interest existed from the start of the grand jury proceedings, thereby tainting the indictment.

The indictment split Scott County residents between Ferrell's supporters and his detractors. Boyd and Ferrell were unavailable for comment.

Scott County Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger said the grand jury proceedings were not part of a smear campaign against Ferrell, and that Boyd pursued the indictment based on the 2006 audit findings. Burger, who was part of a county commission that clashed with Ferrell several times between 2000 and 2004, was named as a state's witness in the indictment but did not testify in grand jury proceedings.

"This doesn't stem from us; this stems from the audit report," Burger said.

msanders@semissourian.com

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