BANGOR, Maine — Thomas “Ferg” Ferguson was one of two men who burst into a Center Street apartment the day after Thanksgiving 2015 and started shooting, the prosecution said Wednesday in its opening statement.
But the state can’t prove Ferguson was in the apartment when the shots that left one man dead and another wounded were fired, let alone prove he fired the gun, the defense said as the trial began. It will be up to Superior Court Justice William Anderson to decide what happened at 201 Center St. in the early morning hours of Nov. 27, 2015.
Ferguson’s trial began Wednesday at the Penobscot Judicial Center after a visit to the apartment where the shooting happened. The judge and the attorneys looked around outside but had not entered the building.
Ferguson, 38, and Robert “Rocco” Hansley, 28, both of Brooklyn, New York, are charged in connection with the shooting that left Robert Mark Kennedy, 38, of Bangor dead and wounding Barry Jenkins, 41, who was visiting from Brooklyn, New York.
Jenkins was expected to take the stand after the lunch break.
Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea told the judge that Ferguson and Hansley knew the victims from New York.
“Jenkins and Ferguson exchanged words and, then, gunfire erupted,” Zainea said.
Defense attorney Harris Mattson said Hansley, not Ferguson, fired the gun.
“Mr. Ferguson has no forensic connection to that weapon,” he told the judge. “There’s no evidence to suggest that Mr. Ferguson ever entered that apartment.”
Originally, the two men were to be tried together before a jury, but Ferguson opted to waive a jury trial because a judge must provide a written rationale for his or her decision while a jury does not, his attorney, Jeffrey Silverstein of Bangor, said last week.
Anderson on May 8 issued his two-page decision after Ferguson filed a motion for a jury-waived trial and a speedy trial motion. Anderson considered the idea of holding a jury-waived trial for Ferguson and a jury trial for Hansley at the same time — but rejected it because it has never been done in Maine before.
Hansley will be tried by a jury. A date for his trial has not been set but could be held in August.
The men are not expected to testify against each other.
Jenkins is scheduled to be the first witness to take the stand after opening statements.
Ferguson’s trial is expected to take 10 days to two weeks.
Jenkins was found by police on the front steps of 201 Center St. on Nov. 27, 2015, with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, according to a police affidavit. Kennedy’s body had multiple gunshot wounds and was found inside the apartment draped over a DVD rack near a window.
Hansley and Ferguson are charged with murder and elevated aggravated assault. Ferguson also is charged with tampering with a victim.
They have pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, each man faces 25 years to life in prison on the murder charges and up to 30 years in prison if convicted of elevated aggravated assault.
Ferguson faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of tampering with a witness.
Watch bangordailynews.com for updates.