Orange County Superior Court judge Jeffrey Ferguson is facing 40 years to life in prison after being convicted on second-degree murder charges over the fatal shooting of his wife following an hours-long argument.
Jurors deliberated for about seven hours before convicting the 74-year-old Ferguson Tuesday afternoon of killing 65-year-old Sheryl Ferguson. A previous jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of a second-degree murder conviction, prompting the retrial.
Ferguson Claimed He Accidentally Shot His Wife but Evidence Didn't Support His Claim
Ferguson was arrested in August 2023 for fatally shooting his wife inside their Anaheim Hills home in August 2023. He then sent a note to his courtroom bailiff and clerk outside the house after the shooting, saying, "I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won't be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I'm so sorry."
Ferguson, who was honored as an "attorney of the year" by the North Orange County Bar Association during his time as a prosecutor, claimed he accidentally shot his wife, insisting the gun discharged when he fumbled it while trying to set the weapon on a coffee table.
He said his shoulder, which is missing three of four tendons, gave out while he was handling the weapon and it discharged. Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt called the judge's story "ludicrous," noting that the Glock handgun that Ferguson carried in an ankle holster required 5 pounds of pressure on the trigger to discharge, and was specifically designed not to fire when dropped.
Ferguson Had an Alcohol Problem, was Arguing with His Wife for Hours Before the Shooting
The judge, who conceded having an alcohol problem, was drinking throughout the day and began arguing with his wife when he got home. Sheryl Ferguson became angry after the judge's son from a previous marriage, Kevin, failed to send a thank you note for money the couple gave him for childcare for his daughter.
Her anger was exacerbated by the knowledge that Ferguson was not Kevin's biological father — a fact that only publicly emerged during the retrial. The argument continued when the couple went out to dinner with their son Phillip. The argument escalated when the judge pointed at his wife with a gun-like gesture, prompting her to angrily walk out of the restaurant.
She eventually returned, but the argument continued when the family returned home and continued their nightly ritual of watching "Breaking Bad." Prosecutors said that at one point during the argument, Sheryl Ferguson said something to the extent of "Why don't you point a real gun at me?" That prompted the judge to remove his Glock from his ankle holster and shoot her, according to prosecutors.
Ferguson Claims He Fumbled While Trying to Set the Firearm on a Coffee Table, Causing it to Discharge
The judge disputed that theory, saying he thought his wife said "get that gun away from me," and he was trying to comply by removing it from the holster and setting it on a coffee table, but he fumbled it, causing it to discharge.
Defense attorney Cameron Talley argued that forensic evidence backed the judge's version of events. Talley argued that the bullet wound from the single gunshot indicated the angle of the weapon was pointing upward, which would be consistent with Ferguson's account of the accidental shooting.
Talley also argued that the location the bullet cartridge landed also proves the point, since it would have been ejected further away instead of at the base of the coffee table if it had been fired directly at the victim, as the prosecution alleged.
