LOS ANGELES – A ju umpire convicted of second-degree murder in Southern California on Tuesday after a couple shot their wife.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was brought to trial for the 2023 death of his wife, Cheryl, 65, at his Anaheim Hills home.
Ferguson stood up in his own defense and admitted to shooting his wife dead, but said it was an accident.
The judges reached a decision Tuesday afternoon, the day after deliberations began.
After the verdict was read in court, Ferguson was handcuffed and given time to hug her son before he was taken into custody.
He was also found guilty of a felony gun-enhancing charge and faces a life sentence of up to 40 years when sentenced to prison on June 13th.
Ferguson’s attorney Cameron Tully said the defense is planning to appeal.
“I respect the verdict of the ju-referee,” Tully said. “At the same time, we all know that ju-referees don’t always do that right… I still believe in Jeff.”
The verdict comes after a previous ju umpire fell apart in March, with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter declared a erroneous sentence. Hunter oversaw the case to avoid a conflict of interest with the Orange County Superior Court, where Ferguson was the main side of the criminal case until the shooting.
The incident struck the legal community in the county, with 3 million people living between Los Angeles and San Diego. Many have known or worked with Ferguson for decades, including Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.
“There are no winners here,” Spitzer said at a press conference after the verdict. “Justice has been achieved, but it’s very sad for the Ferguson family.”
Prosecutors said Ferguson was drinking before making a gun-like hand gesture to his 27-year-old wife during a discussion of family finances that he had at dinner at a Mexican restaurant on August 3, 2023.
Prosecutors say the debate continued at home while the couple watched “Breaking Bad” on TV with their adult son, with Cheryl Ferguson making her husband point her towards her. He pulled the trigger after doing so, prosecutors said.
Ferguson testified that he had removed the gun from the ankle holster and placed it on the table, groping and ejecting it.
Shortly after the shooting, Ferguson and his son both called 911, and Ferguson told the court clerk and enforcement officer, “I lost it. I just shot my wife. There’s no tomorrow. I won’t be detained. I’m very sorry. His son Philip testified that he will work on his father to wrestling the gun after performing CPR on his mother.
Ferguson spoke to police outside his home and was seen in a video where he again said his son and everyone would hate him after he was taken into custody. In the video, he said he killed his wife and appealed to the ju judge to convict him.
Authorities discovered 47 weapons, including guns used in the shooting, as well as 47 weapons at home, including over 26,000 rounds of ammunition, and said Ferguson had adequate experience and training with firearms.
“This was not an accident. Ferguson was trained to never point at a gun to anything he wasn’t trying to destroy,” Spitzer said in a statement about the verdict.
Ferguson was a longtime prosecutor who became a judge in 2015. He began his legal career with the District Attorney’s Office in 1983, working on drug cases and won various awards.
Ferguson was on $2 million bail, but he didn’t preside in court as the state constitution bans judges in the face of felony charges from hearing cases.
