Southern California judge who killed his wife is scheduled to be sentenced

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California judge convicted of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife after the couple had been arguing is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson faces a maximum potential sentence of 40 years to life in prison. The 74-year-old has been jailed since a jury found him guilty in April of murder and felony gun enhancements.

Prosecutors said the long-time judge and former criminal prosecutor pulled a gun from his ankle holster in August 2023 and fired the fatal shot after he had been drinking and arguing with his wife over family finances; the argument began at a restaurant and continued later while watching “Breaking Bad” on television in their Anaheim Hills home.

Ferguson, who presided over criminal cases until his arrest, admitted to shooting his wife, Sheryl, but said it was an accident.

The case roiled the legal community in Orange County where many have known or worked with Ferguson for decades, including District Attorney Todd Spitzer. The county is home to 3 million people between Los Angeles and San Diego.

To avoid a conflict of interest, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter has presided over Ferguson’s trial.

In March, an initial jury deadlocked on the case and Hunter declared a mistrial. In April, a second jury convicted Ferguson of second-degree murder and the gun enhancements.

Frances Prizzia, Ferguson’s lawyer, is asking for a new trial, saying there wasn’t enough time to prepare between the two trials and that a key witness was unavailable to testify a second time, putting her client at a disadvantage.

“The Court’s denial of the continuance was an unreasonable and arbitrary insistence upon expeditiousness in the face of a justifiable request for a delay,” Prizzia wrote in court filings.

During the trial, prosecutors said Ferguson had been drinking before he made a gun-like hand gesture toward his wife of 27 years while arguing with her at a Mexican restaurant on Aug. 3, 2023. Prosecutors said the quarrel continued at home while the couple was watching TV with their adult son, Phillip, and Sheryl Ferguson challenged her husband to point a real gun at her. He did, then pulled the trigger, prosecutors said.

Ferguson, who had experience and training in firearms, testified that he was removing the gun from his ankle holster to place it on a table cluttered with other items when he fumbled it due to an injured shoulder, and it went off.

Immediately after the shooting, Ferguson and his son called 911, and Ferguson texted his court clerk and bailiff 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,” according to a copy of a text message shown to jurors.

Ferguson spoke with police outside his home and while in custody. In video shown at trial, he was seen sobbing and saying his son and everyone would hate him, and pleading for a jury to convict him.

After Ferguson’s arrest, authorities said they found 47 weapons, including the gun used in the shooting, and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition at his home.

Ferguson began his legal career in the district attorney’s office in 1983 and went on to work on narcotics cases, winning various awards. He became a judge in 2015 and presided over criminal cases in the Orange County city of Fullerton, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the court where he is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday.