Retrial begins for O.C. judge accused of killing wife

A 74-year-old Orange County Superior Court judge who had been drinking through the day drew his handgun from an ankle holster and fatally shot his wife in their Anaheim Hills home following an extended argument, a prosecutor told jurors today, but the defendant’s attorney said the shooting was an accident owing to a bum shoulder.

Last month, a separate jury deadlocked at 11-1 in favor of conviction on a second-degree murder charge in the case against Jeffrey Ferguson, who is accused of killing his 65-year-old wife, Sheryl, on Aug. 3, 2023.

Attorneys delivered opening statements in Ferguson’s retrial on Monday, offering to prove much of the same evidence as the first trial.

The victim “was killed by a gun expert,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt told jurors.

Ferguson carried around his Glock in an ankle holster on his left leg routinely unless he was taking a shower or going to bed, Hunt said.

“At lunch he went and had a drink,” while hearing cases at the North Justice Center in Fullerton, Hunt said.

That is against the rules for anyone with a concealed-carry permit and against the law, Hunt said.

Ferguson got off work early that day and when he got home “he had a beer,” followed later by a rum and Coke, Hunt said.

Ferguson and his wife got into a dispute over the judge’s son from a previous marriage, Kevin, who irked the victim because he had not sent a “thank you” card, Hunt said. The prosecutor also said Sheryl Ferguson objected to sending him money, Hunt said. Ferguson, his wife and their son, Phillip, who was home for the summer between his senior and fifth year in college, went to El Cholo, a Mexican restaurant in Anaheim Hills.

“After they ordered dinner the argument grew more heated,” Hunt said. Ferguson was drinking a margarita with another one on the way, and at some point during the dinner he pointed at his wife with his hand like a gun, Hunt said.

“It upset her so much she walked out to cool off,’’ Hunt said. Phillip Ferguson was also so upset by the gesture and his mother’s angst that he confronted his father, asking him why they don’t just get a divorce, Hunt said.

“I can’t afford it,” Ferguson replied, according to Hunt.

Eventually, Sheryl Ferguson returned to their table and told her husband to drink up and they returned home, where they picked up their routine of watching TV together, Hunt said.

They watched an episode of “Breaking Bad” and were starting another one when Ferguson asked to pause it because he was still arguing with the victim, Hunt said.

Phillip Ferguson, a “self-professed history nerd,” picked up a replica sword because he was so anxious about how heated the dispute had become, Hunt said.

When Sheryl Ferguson said “Why don’t you point a real gun at me or something to that effect,” the defendant reached for his weapon from his ankle holster and shot her, Hunt said.

The prosecutor played videos of the defendant while in custody admitting he shot her, Hunt said.

“I killed her, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” Ferguson was recorded as saying. “Convict my ass. I did it.”

Police recovered 48 guns in the defendant’s home along with thousands of rounds of ammunition, Hunt said.

Ferguson “has specialized training” on weapons as a longtime prosecutor and judge. He also has a special insight into the dangers alcohol poses in decision making, the prosecutor said.

“He’s in a unique position to consider the dangers of gun usage,” Hunt said.

When Ferguson had to renew his concealed-carry permit he had to prove he could fire the weapon accurately, and on his last go-around his success rate at hitting targets was 90%, Hunt said.

After the shooting, Ferguson walked out of the house while his frantic son called a 911 dispatcher, who talked him through attempts to revive her, Hunt said. The first thing Ferguson did when he got out of the home was to text his court staff to tell them he wouldn’t be in the next day because he had shot his wife, Hunt said.

Jurors heard the 911 call with Phillip Ferguson in which the son said his father “took out his gun and shot her.”

Meanwhile, Ferguson called 911 as well and when he was asked what happened, he replied, “I don’t want to talk about it right now, I’m sorry.”

Ferguson’s blood-alcohol level six or seven hours after the shooting was 0.065, Hunt said. An expert estimated his blood-alcohol level at 0.17% at the time of the shooting, according to the prosecutor.

Hunt noted the gun needs 5 pounds of pressure to pull the trigger -- an attempt to head off the defense’s argument in the first trial that it was an accidental shooting as the defendant fumbled with the gun.

“It’s not a hair trigger,” Hunt said.

Ferguson never said during questions that he accidentally shot his wife, Hunt said. The judge is seen on some of the video showing concern for losing his pension, Hunt said.

“I did it. Convict me. Send me on my way,” Ferguson said while being questioned.

Defense attorney Frances Prizzia, who is co-counsel to Cameron Talley, who was the attorney in the first trial, made the opening statement for Ferguson.

“This is about an accidental discharge ending in death,” Prizzia said.

Ferguson met the victim about 40 years ago when he was a prosecutor and she worked for the probation department, Prizzia said. They were married for 27 years and were making plans to buy a house in Texas to retire and live closer to Phillip.

“This is not a domestic violence case -- it’s an accident,” Prizzia said.

The two would engage at times in the “normal bickering” of a couple that had spent so many years together, Prizzia said.

Their disputes over financially supporting Kevin Ferguson weren’t about the money, Prizzia said. It was about whether his son by a previous marriage was showing enough appreciation, the defense attorney said.

Sheryl Ferguson, who grew up with four brothers, was also hopeful that her husband’s two sons would form more of a bond like her siblings did, Prizzia said.

The couple had sent Kevin Ferguson $2,000 and she kept checking the mail for a thank-you card, Prizzia said.

The day of the shooting, the judge asked to quit work early that day to spend more time with his wife and Phillip, Prizzia said. While in his office, a Facebook memory popped up, inspiring him to share one of his favorite
pictures of his wife, the defense attorney said.

When Sheryl Ferguson returned home from her job that day she checked the mail and when she didn’t see a card she complained to her husband and the “bickering starts,” Prizzia said.

“He doesn’t really know what to say,” she said. “He’s stuck in a rock and a hard place. That’s just how Kevin is.”

Ferguson made the gesture with his hand like a gun as a way of saying “touche” to his wife, Prizzia said.

When the judge told his son he couldn’t afford a divorce, he was “being snarky,” not serious, Prizzia said.

As the judge continued to apologize for irking his wife, she kept telling him to shut up, Prizzia said.

“She’s truly mad,” so he’s working to “fix the situation,” Prizzia said.

Ferguson thought he heard his wife say, “Why don’t you put that gun away,” Prizzia said.

“He’s intoxicated,” the defense attorney said. “That statement was confusing to him. He didn’t understand but... he thinks whatever makes her happy.”

So as he was trying to place the gun down safely on a cluttered coffee table, his shoulder, which is missing three of four tendons, gave a little and he fumbled the gun, Prizzia said. As he struggled to regain control of the weapon it was triggered, Prizzia said.

The defense attorney said the location of the spent cartridge, which ended up under the coffee table, will back that account up as well as the autopsy results. Hunt said the bullet, which went “center mass” as shooters are trained, went through her chair and ended up in the wall.

Ferguson left the home because as an experienced prosecutor and judge he knew that first responders would not immediately enter the home of a gunman without establishing a perimeter and determining it is safe to go in and aid
the victim, Prizzia said.

When he sent the text message to his staff it was him alerting his “second family, his court family,” the defense attorney said.

When he said he did not want to discuss what happened it was because “his focus was not on the investigation, but on the intervention” for medical aid to the victim, Prizzia said.

Ferguson called 911 a second time to find out why they weren’t on scene yet, she said.

Phillip Ferguson took the stand again, offering up testimony that appeared to be as contradictory at times as the last time he testified in the first trial. Hunt referred him back to his previous testimony multiple times.

Phillip Ferguson acknowledged that his parents would get into heated disputes. At times they would get louder but on other occasions his father would “clam up,” Phillip Ferguson testified.

He testified about his father coming home from work and drinking beer and rum and Coke before the family went out to eat.

He said his father trained him about gun safety, which included tips such as always treating a weapon as if it were loaded and never pointing it at anything a shooter does not want to destroy.

When Hunt asked him if he recalls his father ever drinking and handling guns, his son said no.

The money his father sent Phillip Ferguson’s half-brother was for day care expenses, he testified. His mother objected to that, he said.

Phillip Ferguson said he had a close relationship with his brother, but admitted it could have been closer.

The defendant’s son testified he never saw his father make then shooting hand gesture before that night.

As they argued at the restaurant and when they got home Ferguson appeared to be trying to ``work things out’’ while the victim kept telling him “to just drop it,” Phillip Ferguson said.

When Phillip Ferguson recalled how he got up at one point to unlock and open a glass-sliding door when they were home and it became especially intense, Hunt showed him images from the home surveillance security that
contradicted him.

Phillip Ferguson said he didn’t recall whether or not he saw his father fire the gun, but Hunt had to remind him he earlier testified that he did see the gun being fired.

“I remember at some point -- I believe I saw a (gun) flash,” Phillip Ferguson said. “After that I heard my mom say ‘He shot me,’ and I jumped over the couch (to tackle the defendant).”

Hunt asked him, “Was the gun pointed at your mother?”

“I believe so,” Phillip Ferguson said. “I remember the gunshot and tackling him.”

After tackling his father he held his the defendant’s hand down and demanded he release it, Phillip Ferguson said.

The witness called a Marsy’s Law attorney during a break in his testimony. Marsy’s Law is the California Victims’ Bill of Rights Act of 2008, approved by voters as Proposition 9 in the November 2008 election. The law protects and expands the legal rights of victims of crime Phillip Ferguson is expected to continue testifying Tuesday.

Monday’s proceedings were momentarily delayed by the 5.2-magnitude earthquake centered in the Pine Hills area of San Diego County, approximately 117 miles southeast of the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.