Background: Former judge Jeffrey Ferguson in Los Angeles Superior Court for his sentencing on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025 (KABC/YouTube). Inset: Sheryl Ferguson (Facebook).
A 74-year-old superior court judge in California got taken to the legal woodshed on Wednesday while being sentenced for murdering his wife, with a fellow judge from Los Angeles laying into him for being a disgrace to his position and refusing to follow “any type” of rules.
The tongue lashing came after lawyers for longtime Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, who was found guilty in April, tried asking for permission to be bonded out during the appeal process or remain in custody in the Orange County Jail as opposed to state prison so he can “be closer” to his lawyers. He was sentenced Wednesday to spend 35 years to life behind bars.
“I”m not sure what authority I have to handle remaining in Orange County during the pendency of the appeal,” said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor Hunter during Ferguson’s sentencing hearing, which was broadcast by local media outlets.
“Even if I did, I wouldn’t exercise it,” Hunter said. “There’s been nothing to demonstrate as to why, in this case, I should make that exception to the general rule that when you’re sentenced to state prison, you go to state prison.”
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Ferguson was convicted of second-degree murder following a mistrial in March for murdering his wife in 2023 after a “drunken argument over money,” with prosecutors saying he confessed to the fatal shooting in a text to his court clerk and bailiff just minutes after the bloodshed.
Ferguson was looking at a maximum sentence of 40 years to life in prison, following a mistrial in March, for murdering his wife in their home after a “drunken argument over money,” according to prosecutors.
“[Ferguson] was a judge and a DA for over three decades,” a prosecutor said Wednesday before the sentence was handed down. “He was in a unique position relative to almost any other person to know the dangers of operating a gun in the manner that he did. He intentionally took that gun, he pointed it at his wife, and he pulled the trigger and killed her. She was completely defenseless at the time in her own home with her husband and her son, who had to see his mother die as he tried to provide her life saving measures.”
Ferguson was convicted in April after seven hours of jury deliberations over two days, according to local ABC affiliate KABC. Prosecutors announced his conviction in a press release and described how Ferguson was arrested in August 2023 after his 22-year-old son, Phillip Ferguson, called 911 and reported that his mother had been shot. Phillip Ferguson said his father had opened fire on his wife of 27 years, Sheryl Ferguson, 65, after she told him, “Why don’t you point a real gun at me?”
The statement came after Ferguson simulated pointing a gun at her during an argument at dinner, while they were at a nearby Mexican restaurant.
“Instead of rendering aid to his wife, Sheryl, after shooting her as they sat in their living room watching television, Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, then 72, went outside and texted his court bailiff and clerk,” the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.
“I just lost it. I just shot my wife,” Ferguson told his clerk and bailiff. “I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry.”
As previously reported by Law&Crime, Ferguson used a loaded .40 caliber pistol, which he pulled from an ankle holster, to shoot his wife through the chest.
Hunter echoed the prosecutor’s sentiments and statements on Wednesday while handing down Ferguson’s sentence and ruling on his requests for bond or transfer, noting how the longtime judge “should know better” than to ask for such things, on account of his age and status. She listed out numerous times during the course of Ferguson’s trial where he either ignored rules or made bad decisions.
“Mr. Ferguson doesn’t pay attention to the rules. He just doesn’t,” Hunter blasted. “He doesn’t think the rules apply to him. And that has been demonstrated, at least to this court, time and time again.”
Describing how Ferguson was known to drink and carry a gun, Hunter said, “You know, don’t have a gun and drink alcohol. He was told this over and over and over, and yet he still had a gun and continued to drink and drink and drink and have that gun because that rule didn’t apply to Mr. Ferguson.”
Pointing to Sheryl Ferguson’s shooting death, Hunter said, “Then, with regard to don’t have a gun when you’re angry, well certainly that rule didn’t apply to him because he was angry this day and he had a gun. So he still had no intention of following any type of rule, and that one is evident.”
Hunter also criticized Ferguson for “drinking during lunch when you have to preside over other people’s lives” and how he tried saying it was okay because “cops did it,” according to Hunter. “Then also, do not drink when you have an alcohol monitor on. Well, he blew through that rule real quick,” Hunter noted. “We had a whole hearing on that.”
Hunter said Ferguson was “not truthful” when asked if he drank with an ankle monitor on; he had alcohol in his system during court proceedings while out on bail; he “went on his press tour” during the trial “to try to get sympathy” after being instructed not to; and he was even caught talking about his case “out in the hallway right as you walk out” from her courtroom, according to Hunter.
“A spot that I told him specifically during the first trial and the second trial, do not sit there,” Hunter bemoaned. “But there was Mr. Ferguson amongst the other jurors, and what was he doing? He was talking about the trial with a bail bondsman. Exactly what I said not to do.”
Hunter added, “That was another example that Mr. Ferguson believes the rules just do not apply to him. Somehow or another, he’s above them. So with regard to your request to allow him to be out on bond, I have no confidence whatsoever that he would adhere to any type of rules or regulations about what he can and cannot do while out on bond. So that is denied.”
While delivering her sentence, Hunter noted how Ferguson “abused” his position “extremely” and put his own son through a very traumatizing situation.
“To have him go through what you put him through is just outrageous,” Hunter said. “Leading him to do CPR on his mother. He testified not once but twice. He is just an extraordinary person. … And I’m sorry for everything that he was put through, because of you Mr. Ferguson.”
