The prosecutor’s office says that the case of a California judge accused of the death of the wife has ended in Mundial | News, sports, jobs

Judge Jeffrey Ferguson listens during his trial at the Central Justice Center of Santa Ana on February 26 in Santa Ana, California (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times through AP, Pool, File)

Santa Ana, California (AP) – The case of a judge in southern California accused of murder for fatally shooting his wife has ended in a null trial, said the prosecutor’s office.

Jurrs in a court of the Santa Ana court could not reach a unanimous verdict in the case against the Orange County County Court Judge of Orange County, Jeffrey Ferguson, said Kimberly Edds, spokesman for the County District Prosecutor’s Office.

She said that 11 of the 12 jurors had wanted to declare Ferguson guilty of second degree murder.

The prosecutors had said at the trial that Ferguson shot his wife Sheryl with a gun while the couple watched television in their home at Anaheim Hills after having been arguing. Tyling in his own defense before, Ferguson did not denote him, but said it was an accident.

The judge’s lawyer, Cameron Talley, said Monday that he is sure that Ferguson feels relieved because he could have been arrested. But Talley said Ferguson is still sad for the loss of his wife and that his life is still destroyed.

“I think the evidence shows that there was never any intention to kill anyone intentionally.” Talley told reporters.

The case had started the legal community in Orange County, which houses 3 million people between Los Angeles and San Diego. The Judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles, Eleanor J. Hunter, presided over the case of Ferguson to avoid a conflict of interest.

He scheduled a hearing for Thursday in his room of the Los Angeles court on how to proceed.

At the trial, prosecutors said Ferguson had been drinking before making a gun -shaped hands towards his wife for 27 years during a discussion in a restaurant on August 3, 2023, about family finances. They said that he then took out a real gun when she rebuked him to do it after they returned home to see “Breaking Bad” Together with his adult son Phillip.

Ferguson acknowledged shooting the shot, but said it was an accident when he withdrew the weapon of an ankle cover where he always carried it and tried to place it on a table, but lost it.

The case was heard in a court room for about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from where Ferguson presided over criminal cases as a judge and included extensive Ferguson video images talking to the police outside his home after the shooting and after he was arrested. He was seen on video sobbing and saying that his son and everyone would hate him.

Immediately after the shooting, Ferguson and his son called 911, and Ferguson sent a text message to his secretary and sheriff that said: “I just lost it. I just shoot my wife. I will not be in the morning. I will be in custody. Very sorry,” According to a copy of a text message shown to jurors.

The authorities said they found 47 weapons, including the weapon used in the shooting, and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition in Ferguson’s house and that the former prosecutor for a long time had extensive experience and training in firearms operations and in the management of criminal cases that involve armed violence.

Ferguson, who became a judge in 2015, does not currently challenge a courtroom, since the constitution of the State prohibits a judge who faces a serious crime charge of hearing cases even though they can continue to attract a salary.

Ferguson began his legal career in the Office of the District Prosecutor in 1983 and went to work narcotics, for which he won several awards. He was president of the North Orange County Bar Association from 2012 to 2014.

He was admonished by the Judicial Performance Commission in 2017 for publishing a statement on Facebook about a judicial candidate “With knowing or unbroken contempt for the truth of the statement”, And for being Facebook friends with lawyers who appear before him in court, according to a copy of the agency’s findings.