California judge charged in wife’s murder expected to appear in Los Angeles court

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California judge charged with killing his wife during an argument while he was drunk is expected to appear Tuesday in court.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, who is free on $1 million bail, is set to be arraigned on a murder charge in a Los Angeles courtroom. The hearing is scheduled there because Ferguson has been a judge hearing criminal cases in a courtroom about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the southeast in Orange County.

The 72-year-old was arrested on Aug. 3 at his home in the upscale neighborhood of Anaheim Hills after police found his wife, Sheryl Ferguson, shot to death. Prosecutors said in court filings that the couple had been arguing and the judge was drinking when he pulled a pistol from an ankle holster and shot her in the chest. The couple’s adult son and Ferguson called 911, and Ferguson texted his court clerk and bailiff to say he had shot his wife, according to the filings.

He texted: “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry,” according to the filing.

Prosecutors said they are seeking new bail conditions for Ferguson to protect public safety and ensure he doesn’t flee after authorities found 47 weapons, including the pistol used in the shooting, and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition at his home. They say the weapons are legally owned but a rifle registered in his name is still missing.

They want him to surrender his passport, wear an ankle monitor and possess no alcohol or firearms.

Ferguson’s attorneys have said it was an accident and a tragedy for the family.

The arrest shocked the Southern California legal community and officials have been grappling with how the case should be handled. The district attorney’s office in Orange County — a cluster of cities that are collectively home to more than 3 million people — asked state officials to weigh in on whether there was a conflict before charging him last week.

Ferguson has been a judge since 2015. He started his legal career in the Orange County district attorney’s office in 1983 and went on to work narcotics cases, for which he won various awards. He served as president of the North Orange County Bar Association from 2012 to 2014.

In 2017, Ferguson was admonished by the Commission on Judicial Performance for posting a statement on Facebook about a judicial candidate “with knowing or reckless disregard for the truth of the statement,” and for being Facebook friends with attorneys appearing before him in court, according to a copy of the agency’s findings.

Ferguson said on his Facebook page that he grew up in a military family and traveled throughout Asia as a child. He went on to attend college and law school in California. He and his wife were married in 1996.