District Court arraignment set next week for Ferguson

    Arraignment in Chase County District Court is set for Tristan Ferguson, 20, the man accused of manslaughter in the November 2022 death of Jesse Krausnick.
    The arraignment is set June 22 at 10:15 a.m. in the courtroom at the Chase County Courthouse in Imperial.
    Ferguson also faces a felony charge for possession of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
    At next week’s hearing, Ferguson will be advised of the state’s charges against him and Judge Patrick Heng will seek a plea.
    Since the notice of arraignment was filed, Ferguson, through his attorneys, filed a Plea of Abatement June 5 which asks the court to dismiss the case “On grounds there was insufficient evidence adduced at the preliminary hearing” in county court.
    It states there is no probable cause “to believe the charged crimes were committed and the defendant committed them.”
    In response to the Plea in Abatement, County Attorney Joel Burke said all the evidence at the preliminary hearing had to prove was that crimes were committed and there is probable cause the defendant committed them.
    Along with the May 25 Notice of Hearing document, the state also included a list of 24 witnesses.
    Krausnick, 19, a 2022 Chase County Schools graduate, died Nov. 25, 2022 at Chase County Community Hospital after the Thanksgiving night shooting that occurred at a rental home on West 12th Street in Imperial where Ferguson lived.
    Ferguson, a 2021 CCS graduate, was taken into custody during the early morning hours Friday, Nov. 25, by Imperial police. Nebraska State Patrol investigators were on scene within a few hours.
    Ferguson bonded out of the Chase County Jail the next day after posting the 10% of his $100,000 bond.