Southern California judge gets 35 years for wife’s murder

SUMMARY

• Former Judge Jeffrey Ferguson sentenced to 35 years to life in prison
• Convicted of second-degree murder of his wife, Sheryl
• Prosecutors said the shooting followed a drinking-fueled argument
• Case shook California’s Orange County legal community

A Southern California judge who shot and killed his wife during an argument over family finances was sentenced Wednesday, Sept. 17, to 35 years to life in prison.

The case roiled the legal community in California’s Orange County where many had known or worked with him for decades.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson was sentenced for the second-degree murder of his wife, Sheryl, and felony gun enhancements.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter, who presided over the case to avoid a conflict of interest in Orange County, said the evidence against Ferguson was “absolutely overwhelming” including a text message he sent to court staff immediately after the shooting saying, “I just lost it,” and video recordings of him speaking extensively while in custody.

Hunter said she would shave five years off the maximum potential sentence of 40 years to life due to Ferguson’s lack of a criminal record and support from Sheryl Ferguson’s family members, among other factors, but that Ferguson had repeatedly shown he doesn’t believe the rules apply to him by drinking while carrying a weapon — even while he was out on bond even though he was barred from doing so.

Ferguson, 74, has claimed the 2023 shooting was accidental, but District Attorney Todd Spitzer said the evidence showed it was “cold-blooded murder.”

Prosecutors said the longtime judge and former criminal prosecutor pulled a gun from his ankle holster in August 2023 and fired the fatal shot after he had been drinking and arguing with Sheryl over family finances at a restaurant and later while watching “Breaking Bad” in their Anaheim Hills home.

The case roiled the legal community in Orange County where many have known or worked with Ferguson for decades, including Spitzer. The county is home to 3 million people between Los Angeles and San Diego.

In March, an initial jury deadlocked on the case and Hunter declared a mistrial. In April, a second jury convicted Ferguson of second-degree murder and the gun enhancements.

Ferguson began his legal career in the district attorney’s office in 1983 and went on to work on narcotics cases. He became a judge in 2015 and presided over criminal cases in the Orange County city of Fullerton, about 10 miles from the court where he was sentenced.