California choose Jeffrey Ferguson was arrested Thursday night time, Aug. 3, by Anaheim police on suspicion of murdering his spouse, a division spokesman mentioned.
Officers responded to a name of a capturing round 8 p.m. at a house within the 8500 block of East Canyon Vista Drive and located Sheryl Ferguson, 65, inside with no less than one deadly gunshot wound, Sgt. Jon McClintock mentioned.
She was pronounced lifeless at their two-story, Anaheim Hills residence.
A university-age son was within the residence on the time, a number of sources mentioned, and made the 911 name.
Police discovered Ferguson, 72, on the residence and arrested him with out incident, McClintock mentioned. The Orange County Superior court docket choose was booked into the Anaheim metropolis jail on $1 million bail; by early Friday afternoon, he had bailed out.
“Detectives are not disclosing any additional details at this time because the investigation is ongoing,” the sergeant mentioned in a press release.
From 2017, see: Judge admonished for Facebook remark, friendships with protection attorneys
Investigators continued looking out the couple’s residence Friday morning and introduced out greater than a dozen weapons in addition to different bins, together with some with ammo, and objects in baggage.
Asked by a Southern California News Group photographer in regards to the weapons, McClintock would solely say investigators discovered the gun believed to have been used within the capturing.
Aside from a few girls out for a morning stroll, the neighborhood was quiet aside from the hum of television-news autos. A pickup truck and an SUV remained parked within the driveway.
Hours earlier than the capturing, the choose had re-posted a 2013 photograph of his spouse on his Facebook web page.
Defense lawyer James Crawford mentioned the information of Sheryl Ferguson’s loss of life has rocked Orange County’s authorized neighborhood, the place Ferguson was one of many better-known gamers.
“I think everybody is shocked,” mentioned Crawford mentioned. “There’s no reason to believe that something like this could happen involving Jeff. There’s no signs. … I’m really sad about Jeff, I don’t know what to say.”
Crawford mentioned he as soon as had a drug case towards Ferguson, who was a prosecutor on the time.
“I thought he was fair and easy to deal with,” Crawford mentioned. “He was straightforward and wouldn’t try to jam you if you weren’t ready to proceed.”
Attorney Lloyd Freeberg mentioned he labored with Ferguson in serving to drug and alcohol abusers get clear and sober — Freeberg from the protection chair and Ferguson from the bench on the courthouse in Fullerton.
The two had grow to be so shut that Freeberg cried all night time after listening to of Ferguson’s arrest and the loss of life of his spouse.
“This is a great loss,” Freeberg mentioned. “I’ve shed an awful lot of tears on this one. He saved a hell of a lot of people by getting them clean and sober and making them play by the rules.”
As a choose, Ferguson was extra all for serving to defendants achieve sobriety than placing them in jail, Freeberg mentioned.
Freeberg’s former purchasers in addition to authorized professionals have been shocked by the current information.
“This morning I went to North Court and had to turn around and leave, it was so emotional,” Freeberg mentioned. “It was pretty devastating, a lot of people were stunned. They’re pretty troubled by it.”
Freeberg mentioned he additionally knew Sheryl Ferguson, who typically accompanied the choose to skilled and social occasions: “They seemed to be a good match. I think there’s a lot to the story we don’t know.”
Before rising to the bench in 2014, Ferguson was an Orange County deputy district lawyer for 31 years, becoming a member of the workplace in 1983, in keeping with his marketing campaign biography.
As a prosecutor, he labored his approach up from the juvenile court docket to being named senior deputy district lawyer, assigned to the Major Narcotics Enforcement Team. He additionally led the Probation Offender Search and Seizure Enforcement job power, comprised of 30 separate state and native police companies.
As a choose, Ferguson was publicly admonished in 2017 by the state Commission on Judicial Performance for making an inappropriate remark a couple of judicial candidate on Facebook and remaining Facebook “friends” with attorneys showing earlier than him in court docket.
The panel discovered that Ferguson violated the code of judicial ethics by posting a remark “with knowing or reckless disregard for the truth of the statement.”
In his marketing campaign biography, Ferguson mentioned his spouse beforehand labored for each the Santa Barbara and Orange County probation departments after which for American Funds Service Company for nearly 20 years.
Where he’ll make his first court docket look, if he’s charged with a criminal offense, is unclear. Orange County’s presiding choose can resolve to switch the case outdoors of the county if that jurist decides a battle of curiosity exists.
It was additionally unclear who would probably prosecute the case.
On Friday, Orange County prosecutors have been coordinating with the State Attorney General’s Office to find out who would take the potential case towards Ferguson.
“Our thoughts go to the family,” Orange County Superior Court Presiding Judge Maria Hernandez mentioned in a press release. “We all pray for his or her consolation throughout this making an attempt time.
“Although no case has been filed with our court, when appropriate we will take all necessary steps to ensure full compliance with our legal and ethical obligations,” she mentioned.
Reporters Sean Emery and Nathaniel Percy and photographer Paul Bersebach contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”