The Law Firm of Thomas, Ferguson & Beskind, LLP has been in the news recently. This is a sampling of news media coverage in the Durham, NC area.
Beskind represents former VA Lt. Governor
08/16/22 - Beskind represents former VA Lt. Governor in fight to have Duke clear his name. Read More
Family Storms Out of Courtroom
03/28/22 - Family storms out of courtroom as man sentenced in Durham bar encounter. Read More
Man takes plea in fatal NC bar assault after prosecutors’ murder case stumbles
03/28/22 - Daniel Mohar, accused in a man’s death after a fatal 2019 Durham bar encounter, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Monday after a judge ruled the jury could not consider a second-degree murder conviction. Read More
TFB client has charges dropped by prosecutor
02/04/2022 - Halifax County, NC Murder charges have been dropped against three of four men accused of killing two couples as they played cards in Enfield in August 2017. Read More
TFB client has charges dropped by prosecutor
04/02/2021 - Alamance County, NC The Alamance County District Attorney’s Office dropped misdemeanor charges Wednesday against two N.C. Democratic Party volunteer election watchers... Read More
TFB client sues Duke, alleges due process violation after he was found responsible for sexual assault
01/27/2021 - Durham County, NC A student has filed a lawsuit against Duke alleging that the University improperly handled a disciplinary process that led to him being suspended for three semesters over sexual assault allegations... Read More
TFB Death Row Client Gets New Trial After Spending 28 Years on Death Row
12/18/2020 - COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY/AP) — The North Carolina Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a death row inmate ... Read More
TFB Death Row Client Tilmon Golphin Given Life Sentence Due to Racial Bias
09/25/20 - RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled on Friday that three death row inmates will have their sentences reduced to life in prison through the state's now-defunct Racial Justice Act. Read More
N.C. Supreme Court sides with TFB Client in deadly trafficking case
11/11/19 - The Supreme Court of North Carolina ruled there was no proof a Hillsborough man knew the black box he passed a soon-to-be dead suspected drug trafficker in exchange for his kidnapped father ... Read More
Successful plea in teen murder case
6/14/2018 - A former Jordan High student who fatally stabbed his former girlfriend to death, then calmly returned to school, could be released from prison while still in his early 30s under a plea deal approved Thursday. The defendant took a plea deal reducing his charge from first-degree to second-degree murder in the 2015 stabbing death... Read More
Jay Ferguson at NC Supreme Court Racial Justice Act
8/27/2019 - Jay Ferguson argues before the North Carolina Supreme Court on behalf of a death row inmate for relief under the Racial Justice Act. View Video
Ciaran McKenna — skewered by a Duke campus hook-up
8/12/2018 - When Ciaran McKenna arrived in America he had the world at his feet. Only 17 and a football player of remarkable talent, he had just turned down a three-year professional contract with Celtic in favour of a £200,000 scholarship at Duke University in North Carolina, one of the top American universities. Read More
Athlete, Duke resolve lawsuit over sexual misconduct policy
8/1/2018 - A breach-of-contract lawsuit brought against Duke University by a soccer player accused of sexual misconduct has been resolved, but neither party will reveal the terms. The News & Observer reports the case ended July 30, months after Ciaran McKenna won a permanent injunction preventing Duke from punishing him with a six-semester suspension. Read More
Duke soccer player’s lawsuit over sexual misconduct policy is resolved
7/31/2018- A breach-of-contract lawsuit brought by a men’s soccer player against Duke University has been resolved, months after the student won a victory in court involving the university’s sexual misconduct disciplinary procedures. Read More
Injustice in the Jury Box
06/06/18 - Duke Law Professor James Coleman and Attorney Jay Ferguson discuss racial bias in the death penalty in North Carolina. View Video
Judge sides with junior Ciaran McKenna in sexual assault lawsuit against Duke
2/13/2018- Duke University broke its word to a men’s soccer player when it mishandled the disciplinary process it put him through after a fellow student accused him of sexual misconduct, Durham’s top judge agrees. Read More
“Run over by a really bad process,” Duke soccer player has his day in court
2/13/2018- The day after a shocking verdict in the Joseph Mitchell trial, jurors are speaking out about their decision to acquit a Durham father of first-degree murder in the death of his 4-year-old son. Read More
Cumberland Judge Steps Aside from Racial Justice Act Cases
6/9/2016- The chief resident Superior Court judge in Cumberland County agreed on Thursday to let another judge preside over hearing on four Racial Justice Act cases. Read More
Psychiatrist Back Up Sleepwalking Defense in Durham Murder Trial
3/5/2015- The Hillsborough father is accused of suffocating his 4-year-old son, Blake, back in September 2010. He's charged with first degree murder and two counts of attempted first degree murder for trying to do the same to his two older children. Read More
Judge Steps Aside in Racial Justice Act Appeals
6/9/2015- A Superior Court judge agreed Thursday to allow another judge to hear the appeals of four convicted killers in their renewed bid to get off death row. Read More
Juror in Durham Sleepwalking Murder Trial: "I Didn't Believe One Word Out of that Man's Mouth"
3/12/2015- The day after a shocking verdict in the Joseph Mitchell trial, jurors are speaking out about their decision to acquit a Durham father of first-degree murder in the death of his 4-year-old son. Read More
NC Justices Hear Arguments in Racial Justice Act Cases
4/14/2014- North Carolina’s Supreme Court justices heard two divergent views on Monday about what stories are told by the numbers associated with four Racial Justice Act cases. Read More
Former Duke lacrosse players settle suit
02/18/2013 - A lawsuit filed by 38 members of the 2005-06 men’s lacrosse team settled their suit against Duke University under terms which are confidential. Bill Thomas was one of the attorneys for the players, whose season was cancelled amid the controversy that followed allegations by a stripper that she was raped at a team party in 2006. Read More
‘Sleepwalking’ murder trial ends in acquittal
3-11-15 - A Durham County man who said he wasn't aware he had killed his son more than four years ago because he was sleepwalking at the time was found not guilty of the crime Wednesday. Read More
