Jurors have convicted a Southern California judge of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife while the couple argued and watched television at home, a prosecutor’s office says.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was on trial for the 2023 death of his wife Sheryl.
Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, said jurors reached the decision on the murder charge after receiving the case earlier in the day.
Authorities said Ferguson had been drinking when he and his wife began squabbling over family finances during dinner at a Mexican restaurant with their adult son. Prosecutors said the couple continued arguing after returning home and Ferguson reached for a gun he carried regularly in his ankle holster and shot his wife.
Ferguson did not deny shooting her, but had said it was an accident.
The verdict comes after a previous jury deadlocked in March and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter declared a mistrial. Hunter has overseen the case to avoid a conflict of interest with the Superior Court in Orange County, where Ferguson presided over criminal cases until the shooting.
