OC judge convicted of murder for fatally shooting wife following argument at home

LOS ANGELES - A verdict has been reached in the retrial of a 74-year-old Orange County Superior Court judge accused of killing his wife at their Anaheim Hills home in Aug. 2023.

What we know:

Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder.

A previous jury deadlocked on the charge, prompting a retrial. Jurors in the retrial began deliberating at about 2:45 p.m. Monday, and reached their verdict Tuesday afternoon, convicting the judge of killing 65-year-old Sheryl Ferguson on Aug. 3, 2023.

Jurors also found true a sentence-enhancing gun allegation, opening Ferguson to a possible prison term of 40 years to life. Sentencing was scheduled for June 13. Ferguson was taken into custody after the verdict was read and ordered to remain jailed without bail.

Ferguson claimed the shooting was accidental, insisting the gun discharged when he fumbled it while trying to set the weapon on a coffee table.

"The second he pulled the trigger and killed his wife Judge Jeffrey Ferguson knew he was just like the violent criminals he has sent to prison and left his son to desperately try to pump the life into his dying mother’s body while he went outside to text his friends," said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. 

What happened in court 

During closing arguments for Ferguson's retrial on Monday, Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt said he detected a tone of "resignation" when Ferguson testified in the case.

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.

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The prosecutor played multiple videos of the judge volunteering declarations about his predicament following the shooting. In one instance, an officer asks Ferguson if he had any medical issues. Hunt told jurors, "If you had this miraculous shoulder injury that allows you to shoot your wife in the kill zone, now would be a good time to mention it."

Hunt also argued the judge's testimony in the retrial was inconsistent with his comments during the first trial. He accused Ferguson of lying about when he felt the effects of the alcohol he had been drinking that day.

The couple began arguing that day because when Sheryl got home she realized the defendant's son from a prior marriage, Kevin, had not sent a thank you note as promised for money the couple gave him for childcare for his daughter. The conflict reached a critical point when the judge made a gun-like gesture with his hand while the couple and their son, Phillip, were getting dinner at a local restaurant the night of the shooting.

Ferguson claimed he was making a gesture as if to say "you got me, touché."

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The argument continued when the family returned home, culminating in the fatal shooting.

Hunt told jurors Ferguson appeared to change his testimony from the first trial when he said he was attempting to slide the gun off his hand onto the coffee table, versus his retrial testimony, when he said he was gripping it safely.

The other side:

Defense attorney Cameron Talley criticized the prosecution for arguing for either express malice or implied malice, which are second-degree murder theory elements.

"The government lawyer said this is not a complicated case," Talley said. "Then he spends 40 minutes talking about was it express malice or implied malice, a non-intentional murder. ... So if it's that simple why can't the government make up its mind which is it. Instead, you get this smorgasbord approach."

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Talley argued that the bullet wound from the single gunshot indicates the angle of the weapon was pointing upward, which would be consistent with Ferguson's account of the accidental shooting. He 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 theorizes.

"It landed where it landed if he's telling the truth," Talley said, pointing to Ferguson and noting the ejection port of the gun was facing down.

Talley also argued that Phillip Ferguson's testimony has been inconsistent from his questioning at the scene and his initial trial testimony.

Talley argued that most of the supposedly incriminating statements Ferguson made to police amounted to reflections on how badly he felt about what he did, and they were not a confession to a crime.

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The defendant and his wife had zero domestic violence disputes during their marriage, the attorney said.

The backstory:

On Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, Anaheim Police Department officers were called to a home in the 8500 block of E. Canyon Vista Drive following reports of a shooting just after 8 p.m.

Arriving officers located 65-year-old Sheryl Ferguson suffering from at least one gunshot wound, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her husband, Judge Jeff Ferguson, was arrested in connection with the homicide investigation. He was placed in custody but was released the following afternoon when he posted bond. 

In the early stages of the investigation, officials said they were concerned that Ferguson's .22 rifle had yet to be accounted for. However, police recovered 47 other weapons and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition while searching the home during the execution of a search warrant. 

In the bail motion, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Alex said the former judge shot his wife "through the chest in the living room of their home in Anaheim," also alleging he "loaded a .40 pistol that he pulled from his ankle holster. He shot her at close range. He did so while intoxicated. His adult son witnessed the homicide." 

The altercation reportedly began earlier that night while the couple was having dinner at a nearby restaurant, Alex said.

Investigators said it was the couple's son who alerted authorities of the shooting. A short time later, the judge sent a text message to his court clerk and bailiff that read, "I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won't be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I'm so sorry."

Judge Ferguson served at the North Justice Center in Fullerton and served as a judge in Orange County Superior Court since 2015.

The OC DA's officer charged him with one felony count of murder, one felony enhancement of personal use of a firearm, and one felony enhancement of discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury or death. 

He faces a maximum sentence of 40 years to life if convicted of all charges. 

His $1 million bail was later revoked after prosecutors said he violated the terms of his release by drinking alcohol. 

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