Mistrial declared in case of OC judge accused of killing his wife

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - After eight days of jury deliberations, a mistrial was declared in the murder trial of a 74-year-old Orange County Superior Court judge accused of killing his wife at their Anaheim Hills home in Aug. 2023.

The panel split 11-1 on a second-degree murder charge soon after resuming deliberations Monday morning.

What happened in court 

Monday's resumption of deliberations did nothing to break the deadlock, and the mistrial was declared shortly after 11 a.m.

The panel had left early on Friday, telling the judge overseeing the case they were "exhausted."

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor Hunter, who is presiding over the case, allowed the short arguments from the prosecutor and defense attorney with jurors at an impasse.

Thursday, the panel sent a note regarding those arguments, and again returned to deliberations.

Hunter limited Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt to 10 minutes of argument, plus a few more minutes of rebuttal, and defense attorney Cameron Talley 10 minutes.

The move came as jurors signaled in notes to the judge they were hung up on some of the language in the law about what constitutes a second-degree murder.

Talley objected to the new rounds of arguments and added if they were going forward he needed to have more room to argue reasonable doubt. Hunter responded, "This is not a re-argument -- it's a supplement."

Hunt told the jurors Wednesday it was an implied malice case, meaning it was not legally required that he prove the defendant intended to kill his wife.

"For implied malice murder it's required he did an act that was inherently dangerous to human life and acted with conscious disregard for human life," Hunt said.

The act of pulling out the gun while intoxicated during an argument was enough to reach second-degree murder, Hunt argued.

Hunt equated it to a previously convicted drunken driver getting behind the wheel after being warned he could be charged with murder if involved in a deadly collision while intoxicated. During the trial, Ferguson even recounted the advisement drunk drivers get when they are convicted of DUI that if they get caught again and someone is killed they face an upgraded charge from manslaughter to murder.

Hunt pointed out that during questioning Ferguson himself compared his plight to a drunken driver.

"He likens himself as a trained lawyer and judge to a drunken driver who killed someone," Hunt said. "He views himself as that person."

Hunt also argued that after Ferguson pulled the gun from his ankle holster and he attempted to place it on an empty part of the coffee table he "couldn't be bothered to move some (TV) remotes" aside instead. Ferguson testified that his injured shoulder gave out as he was reaching over the coffee table to set the weapon down, which caused him to fumble the gun, which fired as he attempted to recover control of it.

"He takes out this gun while intoxicated and can't be bothered to move some remotes aside," Hunt said. "That is inherently dangerous to human life ... He is handling a gun and pointing it at another human being ... He's a gun expert. He understands the dangers, so he had that conscious disregard."

Talley responded, "The government got it wrong again."

Talley argued that the prosecutor had to show the shooting was an intentional act that was dangerous to human life and that the act posed a high probably it would lead to a death.

"The government got it right when they said he's an expert. He took the gun out of his holster and it's pointed at the ground," Talley said.

Ferguson was holding the gun in a safe manner as instructed and "never pointed it at Sheryl Ferguson," Talley said. "He fumbled the gun."

Ferguson was missing three out of four tendons in his shoulder and when he leaned over to put the gun down he testified he felt a "shooting pain" and lost control of the weapon and it fired as he was trying to regain control of it.

Talley said the prosecution had to show the defendant did something dangerous and didn't care what happened.

"You have to show you don't care if somebody gets killed," Talley argued.

Talley argued against involuntary manslaughter, which requires a lawful act done in an illegal way that leads to a death through criminal negligence.

"This is closer, but it's still not guilty," Talley said.

Talley argued, "We know it was an accident" from the pathway of the bullet through the victim. He also noted there was no "flash muzzle" seen on the home surveillance video that would indicate a deliberate pulling of the trigger.

"His mindset has to be he knew he could kill someone but didn't care," Talley said. "It's not guilty all day long."

Hunt replied in his rebuttal that Talley did not address the defendant's level of drunkenness that evening while handling the gun.

While the jurors are free to discuss both degrees of guilt in their deliberations, they must first acquit him of second-degree murder before they can vote on involuntary manslaughter.

What they're saying:

"Justice rests in the hands of 12 strangers who were taken from their everyday lives and given the immense responsibility to weigh the evidence and determine guilt or innocence," said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.

"Although we are disappointed with the outcome, we will be reviewing the questions presented by the jury along with the facts as well as meeting with the victim’s family in order to make a decision in the coming weeks regarding this case. The District Attorney has always been available to meet with the victim’s family should that be something they request."

Jury was initially deadlocked 

What we know:

Ferguson is charged with murder with sentencing enhancements for discharge of a gun causing death and the personal use of a gun.

Near the end of Monday's deliberations, the jurors signaled they were at an impasse on the second-degree murder charge against Ferguson. The panel could convict the 74-year-old Ferguson of second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter, or acquit him altogether.

The jury told Hunter on Monday "several" votes have been taken on murder, but did not specify how many. They also indicated there has been "movement" on the deadlock.

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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