Orange County Superior Court docket Decide Jeffrey Ferguson has been charged with homicide within the capturing dying of his spouse final week of their Anaheim Hills house.
The choose, 72, was arrested on Aug. 3 after his son referred to as emergency dispatchers to say his mom, 65-year-old Sheryl Ferguson, had been shot.
The choose was taken into custody, spent one evening in jail and posted $1 million bail.
On the night of the slaying, based on papers filed by prosecutors late Thursday, Ferguson and his spouse received into an argument over dinner at a restaurant, the place he threatened her “by making a hand gesture indicative of pointing a gun at her.”
The argument continued when the couple returned house, the place Sheryl Ferguson stated, “Why don’t you level an actual gun at me?” or one thing comparable, prosecutors stated within the courtroom papers.
The choose, intoxicated, then pulled a Glock .40-caliber pistol from his ankle holster and shot her within the chest, the bullet exiting her again and hitting the wall behind her, prosecutors stated.
The choose’s grownup son, who referred to as 911 and tried to carry out CPR on his mom, stated his father had been consuming an excessive amount of, prosecutors stated.
The choose himself later referred to as 911 to say his spouse wanted a paramedic, however when requested if he had shot her, he stated he didn’t need to discuss it, prosecutors stated.
Nonetheless, based on the D.A.’s workplace, the choose texted his courtroom clerk and bailiff, saying: “I simply misplaced it. I simply shot my spouse. I gained’t be in tomorrow. I will likely be in custody. I’m so sorry.” The recipients initially thought the textual content was a joke, prosecutors stated.
Ferguson smelled of alcohol and was nonetheless sporting the empty ankle holster when police took him into custody, prosecutors stated.
He requested officers to shoot him, based on prosecutors, and made remarks that have been captured by police physique digital camera: “What an ass— I’m,” “Oh, man, I can’t imagine I did this,” and “I assume I’m finished for some time.”
Police took a pattern of the choose’s blood to measure its alcohol content material seven hours after the capturing, by which era it measured .06%, under the authorized restrict for intoxication, based on courtroom papers.
Ferguson’s son informed police that his mom had as soon as talked the choose out of capturing himself, based on prosecutors.
Prosecutors will ask the courtroom to impose extra bail circumstances on Ferguson. Amongst their considerations: a lacking rifle.
Although Anaheim police confiscated 47 firearms in a search of the choose’s house, plus extra that 26,000 rounds of ammunition, detectives have been unable to discover a .22-caliber rifle that’s registered in his title, based on the district lawyer’s workplace.
Police missed nonetheless one other rifle of their search of the choose’s house, although Ferguson’s protection lawyer later discovered it and handed it over, the D.A. stated.
Among the many additional bail circumstances, prosecutors will ask that Ferguson give up his passport and his allow to hold a hid weapon, possess no weapons and put on an ankle monitor.
In a movement to set Ferguson’s arraignment for Tuesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Chris Alex requested the courtroom to restrict contact between the defendant and his grownup son, described in courtroom papers as the one eyewitness to the murder, so as “to stop any diploma of danger or undue affect upon Son.”
Prosecutors may even ask that the choose keep away from alcohol altogether.
Although its prosecutors appeared earlier than the choose commonly till final week, the Orange County district lawyer’s workplace is dealing with the case, citing a choice by the state lawyer common’s workplace that there isn’t a battle.
Ferguson, who was an area prosecutor himself for greater than three many years earlier than changing into a choose in 2015, faces 40 years to life in jail if convicted of present fees.
“This can be a tragedy for the complete Ferguson household. … It was an accident and nothing extra,” Ferguson’s attorneys, John Barnett and Paul Meyer, stated in a press release, based on Metropolis Information Service.
