Lawyer Calls Expert Toxicologist's Bachelor's Degree Into Question
The academic background of a James L. Ferguson, an Ohio toxicologist who testified in many criminal trials, is being questioned by a criminal defense lawyer who wonders if the former Franklin County coroner’s office employee even has a bachelor’s degree.
Kort Gatterdam of Columbus, Ohio, represents Virginia LeFever, a woman convicted of murdering her husband with poison 20 years ago. Her trial centered on testimony from Ferguson, and he stated that he obtained a biochemistry degree from Ohio State University in 1972. Later, in a deposition for a civil trial related to LeFever’s murder conviction, Ferguson stated that he actually obtained the degree in 1988, WBNS-10TV reported.
Gatterdam asked Edward Behrman, an emeritus biochemistry professor from OSU, to review Ferguson’s transcripts, according to WBNS-10TV, and the professor determined that Ferguson flunked basic biochemistry courses, and failed to take or complete six of the 15 courses the school then required for graduation. Behrman told the television station that student-confidentiality rules prevented him from talking specifically about Ferguson, but he could say that someone with the man’s academic record had “zero” chance of obtaining an OSU biochemistry degree.
The university told WBNS-10TV that it had no explanation for what happened with Ferguson, who worked for the Franklin County coroner’s office from 1977 to 2003. Earlier this year, Ferguson pled no contest to falsification, and he was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
