Los Angeles – A null trial was declared on Monday in the case of a judge from Orange County, California, accused of murder in the 2023 shooting of his wife.
The jury members were blocked 11-1 in favor of condemning the Judge of the Superior Court of Orange County, Jeffrey Ferguson, who testified that he accidentally fired and killed his wife, authorities said.
Orange County District Prosecutor, Todd Spitzer, said the hanging jury was a victory.
“Eleven to one for guilty is a phenomenal success,” he told reporters.
“We are absolutely prepared to try again,” he said at the press conference.
He said in a statement that the members of his office would meet with the victim’s family to make a decision in the coming weeks.
Ferguson, now 74, was arrested by Anaheim’s police after the officers responded to a shooting at the couple’s house on August 3, 2023.
Sheryl Ferguson, 65, was declared dead on the scene.
Jeffrey Ferguson shot him in the chest with a .40 caliber glock pistol while he was intoxicated, prosecutors said in judicial documents.
The couple had been arguing at a dinner with their son that night, and Jeffrey Ferguson had pointed out his finger to this wife in motion of a gun, authorities said.
They continued to argue at home later, and Sheryl Ferguson said: “Why don’t you point to me a true weapon?” Jeffrey Ferguson took out the glock out of an ankle cover and shot him, prosecutors said.
The son called 911 and reported the shooting. Jeffrey Ferguson also called 911 and said his wife had shot. In a text message to the secretary of the Court and a sheriff, he wrote: “I just lost it. I just shoot my wife. I will not be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m very sorry,” prosecutors said.
Ferguson testified in the trial that he did not intend to kill his wife.
“I didn’t want to kill her,” he said. “It was an accident.”
His lawyer, Cameron J. Talley, told the jury that Jeffrey Ferguson intended to place the weapon on a table, looked for the gun and shot him by accident.
Jeffrey Ferguson has been a judge of the Superior Court since 2015, and before that, he was deputy district prosecutor of the Orange County District Office for more than 30 years.
Ferguson was accused of a murder charge with two improvements that would increase the possible sentence if it had been convicted.
