A jury announced Monday afternoon that they are at an impasse in the trial of an Orange County judge who is accused of fatally shooting his wife at the family’s home in 2023.
Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, has not denied shooting his wife, but claims the gun went off accidentally.
Prosecutors say Ferguson had been drinking heavily and arguing with his wife, Sheryl when he pulled a pistol from his ankle holster and shot her in the chest on Aug. 3.
The jury’s impasse is over the second-degree murder charge that Ferguson faces which, if found guilty, could result in a sentence of 15 years to life.
In addition, Ferguson also faces gun enhancements that, if found guilty, could increase his sentence to a maximum of 40 years to life.
On Monday, KTLA’s Chip Yost reported that L.A. County Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter instructed the jury they can consider the lesser Involuntary manslaughter charge – but, they can only do that if they first reach a not-guilty verdict on the second-degree murder charge.
If the jury is still at an impasse and is declared a hung jury on the second-degree murder charge, then they cannot skip down and vote on the involuntary manslaughter charge.
Yost also reported that Judge Hunter told the attorneys that she might allow each of them to deliver ten more minutes of closing arguments to the jury if she thinks that will help break the stalemate.
While this would be a very rare move, it does happen on occasion.
Cameron Talley, Ferguson’s defense attorney, was a prosecutor for 22 years and has been a defense attorney for the last 10 years. He told KTLA that it would be the first time in his career that a judge instructed the attorneys to give additional closing arguments after the jury has already started deliberating.
However, after speaking with the jury on Monday, Judge Hunter determined that they might still be able to come to a decision after another night.
The jury was ordered to return to court at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
