Orange County judge sentenced to prison for wife's murder

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter on Wednesday sentenced former Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey M. Ferguson to 15 years to life in prison for murdering his wife. She also added 20 years for a firearm enhancement after denying a defense motion for a new trial.

Ferguson was also ordered to pay restitution to his brother-in-law for Sheryl's funeral expenses.

"The bigger picture is that the defendant is entitled to a fair trial," defense attorney Frances Prizzia said to Hunter during the motion arguments. "My lack of ability to be prepared, based on rulings by this court, did have a negative impact on my client. At the end of the day Mr. Ferguson wasn't provided a fair trial."

Hunter disagreed, delivering a lengthy explanation that opened with a recitation of facts from the record.

"In this case 23 jurors said he was guilty, and one said he was guilty of manslaughter," Hunter observed. "Not one said he was not guilty."

During victim impact statements, Sheryl's brother, Larry Rosen, began by speaking about her but shifted to praising Ferguson. Hunter interrupted Rosen, urging him to focus on Sheryl Ferguson and emphasize truthful information.

"I'm pretty confident that when today is done, Mr. Ferguson is going to spend the rest of his life in jail. I understand that this is the likely outcome here, but I feel that, for purposes of creating a record, I want to have these things stated not just for my conscience, but also for what I think my sister would have wanted," Rosen said during his statement. "Your Honor, I sat here during the second trial, when the jury left for deliberation, the hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I really felt at that point that my sister had transferred her energy into me. I truly believe that my sister is not invisible here. I do believe that if she were here, she would recognize that this was an accident."

Rosen said he believed Ferguson faced excessive charges and that he should have been charged with involuntary manslaughter instead.

During his statement, Ferguson told the court that Sheryl was the love of his life.

"I want to acknowledge that myself, along with my son Phillip and Sheryl's brothers, are all grieving. For me, Sheryl didn't die just once on August 3rd, 2023 - she dies again and again every morning when I wake up."

Ferguson's lead counsel, Cameron J. Talley, requested to keep his client in Orange County jail rather than sending him to a state prison an appeal is filed. Hunter said she didn't have that authority and if she did, she didn't think she would grant that request.

The case has sent shockwaves through California's judiciary. Ferguson, 74, was convicted in April after an intense seven-day retrial followed by eight hours of jury deliberations.

Jurors had grappled with the complex nuances of implied malice and involuntary manslaughter before coming to a unanimous verdict, declaring him guilty of the fatal shooting of his wife, Sheryl, in their Anaheim Hills residence amidst a tumultuous domestic dispute fueled by alcohol. People v. Ferguson, 23NF1975, (O.C. Super. Ct., filed Aug. 11, 2023)

The verdict came only weeks after Ferguson's first trial ended in a mistrial. Jurors in the first trial deliberated 32 hours before reporting a deadlock of 11-1 in favor of conviction to Hunter, who presided over both trials.

During the second trial, Hunter accused Ferguson of attempting to influence jurors with emotional displays and TV interviews. Major developments during the first trial included Ferguson's admission that he drank every day during work and a 5.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred during opening statements.

At issue in both trials was Ferguson's intent. Prosecutors argued that a veteran prosecutor, judge and gun owner knew exactly what he was doing when he retrieved his Glock 27 while intoxicated and pointed it at his wife.

Former Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton B. Hunt, now at the Riverside County District Attorney's office, highlighted escalating conflicts starting with a restaurant dispute and culminating in Ferguson's self-incriminating recording confessing to the crime: "I killed her. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, convict my ass. I did it!"

"The facts dictated the outcome of this case," Hunt said Wednesday.

Talley countered that the shooting was accidental, the result of Ferguson fumbling the gun as he tried to set it on a coffee table -- a mishap worsened by a shoulder injury. He cited the bullet's upward trajectory as corroboration and noted Ferguson's lack of prior domestic violence. The defense conceded Ferguson was a "functioning alcoholic" who drank even during workdays on the bench but denied he harbored murderous intent.

The trial also revealed significant family turmoil. Phillip Ferguson testified that six years earlier, he and his father discovered that Kevin -- Ferguson's older son, who was absent from both the sentencing and most of the trial proceedings -- was not his biological child.

Ferguson testified that the shooting followed a drunken argument over finances and family disputes. Once the shot rang out, his son Phillip, who was home during his college summer break, ran to his mother's side in a failed attempt to save her life, while the elder Ferguson wandered outside to send a text message to his court staff, "I lost it. I shot her. I won't be in tomorrow. I'll be in custody."

In court, once the jury returned with a conviction, Ferguson was given the opportunity to embrace his son before being handcuffed. "Be strong," he told him.

Following the conviction, District Attorney Todd Spitzer called the killing anything but an accident.

"Ferguson was trained to never point a gun at anything he didn't intend to destroy," Spitzer said. "On August 3, 2023, he pointed it at exactly what he wanted to destroy -- his wife of 27 years -- and then he pulled the trigger and destroyed everything."

Ferguson is believed to be the first sitting California judge convicted of murder. While other judges have faced serious criminal allegations, they have typically resigned before trial or conviction. His case stands alone: a sitting judge tried twice for murder, first spared by a deadlocked jury, then convicted on retrial.