Back in 2023, California criminal court judge Jeffrey Ferguson was arrested for the murder of his wife, Sheryl Ferguson. The couple had been arguing early in the evening, both at their home and a restaurant, and the fighting continued when they returned home. During the argument at the restaurant, prosecutors say the judge used his fingers to imitate a gun. When the fight continued at home, Sheryl Ferguson reportedly said, “Why don’t you point a real gun at me?” According to court filings, Judge Ferguson then got his Glock .40 pistol from his ankle holster and shot her.
Shortly after the shooting, the judge reportedly texted court staffers, “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry.”
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The trial of Judge Ferguson began in a California courtroom earlier this week. Opening statements began with Orange County Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt showing a video of Judge Ferguson after his arrest, sitting alone in a police interview room. The footage shows Ferguson saying, “I killed her. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, convict my ass. I did it.” As reported by Law360, it continues:
In the video, the judge at various times expresses regret and anger toward himself while also saying aloud to nobody in particular that he wasn’t “going to pretend or do subterfuge,” according to Hunt. Jeffrey Ferguson is later caught on the video saying, “I did it. Convict me. Send me on my way.”
And that wasn’t the only video shown to the jury:
Jurors also saw footage from a body camera worn by Officer Joshua Juntilla, who apprehended Jeffrey Ferguson and stayed with him outside the family’s home. Juntilla recalled that the judge was distraught, uttering several expletives, and asking multiple times whether his wife was alive.
“What the fuck did I do?”, “Shit me, shit me, shit me, fuck me,” and “Holy fuck, I can’t believe this,” Judge Ferguson is heard saying on video at different times, while also apologizing repeatedly to his son, who was not within earshot.
“Phillip, I’m so sorry,” Judge Ferguson said, sobbing. “My son will hate me for the rest of my life.”
The judge subsequently revealed to Juntilla he was a superior court judge, discussed his 30-year career as a deputy district attorney, prosecuting different gangs, while commenting: “Here I am, now like them, after all of this.”
“I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be sitting in handcuffs in front of my house,” Jeffrey Ferguson is heard saying.
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The trial is ongoing. Judge Ferguson maintains the shooting was accidental.