On Tuesday afternoon, a Los Angeles jury convicted an Orange County, California, judge of second-degree murder for shooting his wife.
As previously reported, a judge who sat on Orange County Superior Court in Southern California was drunk when shot his wife dead in August 2023, prosecutors said.
Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was accused of fatally shooting his wife Sheryl during an argument in their Anaheim Hills home on August 3, 2023.
Ferguson previously pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.
The judge’s lawyer says it was an “accidental shooting.”
Ferguson and his wife got into an argument at dinner and that’s when he “pointed his finger at his wife in a manner mimicking a firearm,” Orange County Deputy District Attorney Christopher Alex told the Los Angeles court in 2023.
The two continued to argue when they got home and that is when Ferguson retrieved his pistol from his ankle holster and shot his wife Sheryl in the chest one time.
Prosecutors said Ferguson reeked of alcohol when he was arrested by police and told them, “Oh man I can’t believe I did this.”
According to court documents, Ferguson texted his colleague after the shooting, “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’s case was moved to Los Angeles because of his professional relationships with judges in Orange County, KABC reported.
Ferguson is facing 40 years in prison after a jury convicted him on Tuesday, KABC reported.
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