By Sean Emery and Tony Saavedra, Southern California News Group
A California decide accused of killing his spouse of their home discovered himself in an unfamiliar court docket setting on Tuesday, Aug. 15 — standing earlier than a Los Angeles County decide and pleading not responsible to a homicide cost for a slaying his attorneys say was an accident.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson made his plea by his attorneys earlier than Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ricardo Ocampo, who granted Orange County prosecutors’ requests that Ferguson put on a GPS monitoring system, steer clear of alcohol and undergo searches as circumstances of his $1 million bail.
Ocampo rejected a request by prosecutors for Ferguson to not have any contact together with his 22-year-old son, who authorities say witnessed the killing. Ocampo mentioned such contact was as much as the son.
Wearing a grey go well with, white shirt and a blue tie, Ferguson sat quietly behind the courtroom till his case was referred to as. He mentioned little till requested by Ocampo if he understood the brand new circumstances of his bail.
“Yes, I do, your honor,” Ferguson mentioned.
At one level, Ferguson glanced again towards the primary row of the courtroom gallery, making eye contact with one in all his spouse’s brothers, Larry Rosen, who later described that second as “hell.”
“I busted down in tears,” Rosen later mentioned, nonetheless combating emotion as he recalled the second. “This is really hard.”
After the temporary listening to, Ferguson’s attorneys Paul Meyer and John Barnett referred to as the capturing “accidental” and “unintentional.”
“We are confident that when a jury from Orange County hears these facts they will agree with us, this was an unintentional discharge of a firearm,” mentioned Barnett, standing earlier than a financial institution of cameras exterior the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. “There was no intent to kill, no malice and they will find him not guilty.”
A tentative date for the preliminary listening to was set for Oct. 30 in Los Angeles. The case has been assigned to a Los Angeles decide to keep away from a battle of curiosity with Ferguson’s Orange County colleagues. The Orange County prosecutors assigned to the case declined to cease and speak with reporters after the listening to.
Ferguson, 72, was arrested Aug. 3 shortly after fatally capturing his spouse, Sheryl, at their Anaheim Hills, California, dwelling with a Glock 40-caliber pistol that he pulled from his ankle holster, authorities say. Prosecutors allege the couple had been arguing that night time and Ferguson had earlier pointed a finger at her, mimicking a gun.
Moments earlier than the capturing, in response to paperwork filed by prosecutors, Sheryl Ferguson advised the decide, “Why don’t you point a real gun at me?”
Jeffrey Ferguson is accused of firing one shot at shut vary, hitting his 65-year-old spouse within the chest. The couple’s grownup son witnessed the capturing and tried CPR on his mom, authorities say, earlier than calling 911. Prosecutors mentioned Ferguson texted his Fullerton court docket employees: “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry.”
‘I just lost it,’ OC decide texts his court docket employees, prosecutors say. ‘I just shot my wife’
After Anaheim police arrived, Ferguson, smelling of alcohol and nonetheless sporting his now-empty ankle holster, advised officers: “What the (expletive) did I … well, I guess I’m done for a while… Oh my God. … My son. … My son. … (Expletive) me. … What an (expletive) I am, Jesus Christ. I’m sorry. … I (expletive) up. … Oh man, I can’t believe I did this,” prosecutors say.
After spending an evening in jail, Ferguson was launched on $1 million bail. Ferguson has no felony file.
While looking out the Ferguson’s two-story home, investigators seized 47 authorized firearms and greater than 26,000 rounds of ammunition, together with what they imagine is the homicide weapon, police mentioned. A single, spent .40 casing was discovered close to a sofa.
Around seven hours after the capturing, a blood pattern taken from Ferguson confirmed the decide had a blood-alcohol degree of 0.06 p.c, in response to prosecutors. The restrict by which a person is taken into account too intoxicated to drive is 0.08 p.c.
The son advised investigators that he had by no means beforehand witnessed home violence between his dad and mom however had seen many arguments, prosecutors say, with the son including his father “tends to be more heated when he drinks.”
The son additionally advised investigators about two earlier incidents involving his father and firearms, prosecutors wrote, each of which his mom had reportedly advised him about: Several years prior, the decide positioned a gun to his head, and his spouse “talked him out of suicide,” prosecutors wrote. On one other event, the decide fired a gun whereas alone in a toilet on the dwelling, which the son believed was an “accidental discharge.”
Ferguson was a longtime prosecutor with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office earlier than he was elected as a decide in 2015.
A memorial for Sheryl Ferguson was held on Sunday, drawing a capability crowd of supporters at an synagogue in Orange County, the brother mentioned, with a non-public burial for relations held in Los Angeles County on Monday.
“My sister was a wonderful person, very caring, very selfless,” Larry Rosen mentioned. “The family is absolutely in shock. She is going to be missed dearly. I would describe what is happening as a tragedy.”
Rosen, talking publicly for the primary time, exterior the Los Angeles courthouse on Tuesday morning, described Sheryl Ferguson — the only real sister amongst 5 siblings — as “the glue that held the family together.”
He got here to the listening to to “be a face for my sister.”
The brother declined to touch upon whether or not he believed the protection argument that the killing was an accident or about any potential points within the Ferguson marriage, saying he was leaving these questions for the police and prosecutors.
Rosen mentioned his household’s most important concern proper now’s being there for the son who prosecutors say witnessed the capturing.
“It is tragedy for me, I can’t even fathom what he is going through,” Rosen mentioned. “As a family we are focused on one thing: making sure he is protected and has support.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”