Mistrial declared in case of Orange County judge accused of murdering his wife

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- A mistrial was declared in the case of an Orange County Superior Court judge accused of fatally shooting his wife in their Anaheim Hills home.

Jurors deliberated for more than 40 hours over nine days.

On Monday, the jury was 11 to 1, with one member saying that Jefferey Ferguson was not guilty of murdering his 65-year-old wife, Sheryl, in August 2023.

Prosecutors say Ferguson was drinking and shot her on purpose during an argument, while Ferguson claims the gun went off accidentally as he removed it from its holster.

"I do think the evidence shows there was never an intent to intentionally kill anybody," said Cameron Talley, Ferguson's defense attorney.

On Friday, the jurors were sent home after telling the judge they were exhausted and remained deadlocked.

Monday's resumption of deliberations did nothing to break the deadlock on the second-degree murder charge, and the mistrial was declared shortly after 11 a.m.

"It was unequivocally clear by the jury's outcome, obviously not a verdict, that they believed that our prosecution team proved this case beyond a reasonable doubt to 11 and there was obviously one hold out," said O.C. DA Todd Spitzer.

Despite the trial's outcome, Spitzer is prepared to retry the case.

"The evidence is overwhelming. Mr. Ferguson murdered Sheryl," Spitzer said.

Sheryl's family believe a mistrial is the right decision.

"It's been really hard to do this," said Larry Rosen, Sheryl's brother, his voice breaking with emotion. "But just because an unfortunate occurrence happened and just because somebody was the person, you can identify the person that's responsible for causing it, it doesn't necessarily make it a crime."

Talley argues that the shooting was an accident.

The 74-year-old faced 40 years to life if convicted.

"He's relieved but the bigger problem is his life is still pretty crushed and ruined from the tragic accident that he lives with every day of his life," Talley said.

The DA's office announced on Monday that because Judge Ferguson admitted on the witness stand to drinking while on the bench, his office will be reviewing all cases he was a part of.

The retrial is set to start possibly on April 7.