Fate of California judge who shot and killed his wife once again in the hands of a jury

The fate of an Orange County Superior Court judge who shot and killed his wife during an argument at their Anaheim Hills home is once again in the hands of a jury a little more than a month after his first murder trial ended with an earlier panel of jurors deadlocked Jurors in the retrial of Jeffrey Ferguson began their deliberations on Monday afternoon following a weeklong trial in Superior Court in a Santa Ana courtroom Like the earlier panel the current jurors are tasked with deciding if Ferguson committed second-degree murder a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter or if he should be acquitted of all criminal charges Related Articles Further proceedings ordered for man charged in kidnapping and killing of a Bay Area boy East Bay youth killed another wounded in shooting Escaped California inmate arrested in police commander s killing in Tijuana Manhunt underway for escaped killer from California who allegedly gunned down Gringo Hunter in Mexico Bay Area man gets years for Oakland killing The prosecution alleges that an inebriated Ferguson was angered at his wife Sheryl mocking him and pulled out a Glock -caliber pistol he carried at nearly all times in an ankle holster and shot her while the couple and their adult son were watching the television show Developing Bad at their Anaheim Hills home Ferguson during testimony in both the original trial and the retrial described fumbling the firearm after his shoulder gave out while he was trying to take the firearm out of his ankle holster and place it on a table and inadvertently firing the fatal gunshot An accidental shooting would mean that no crime was committed the defense argued The previous jury deliberated over nine days longer than the first trial itself before deadlocking to in favor of second-degree murder The hold out juror was apparently backing an involuntary manslaughter conviction Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J Hunter who is presiding over the development to avoid a conflict of interest among Ferguson s judicial colleagues on the Orange County bench pushed for a rapid turnaround to a retrial after the initial mistrial Closing arguments presented to jurors were largely the same in both trials Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt once again outlined two strategies jurors could reach a second-degree murder conviction by determining that Ferguson intentionally fired the fatal gunshot or instead that by handling a loaded gun while drunk Ferguson acted with reckless disregard for his wife s safety resulting in her death Amazingly he somehow grabbed the gun and it went off the prosecutor notified jurors It the gunshot hit the victim right in the center mass the person he was arguing with Defense Attorney Cameron Talley countered that the matter was much more complicated criticizing the prosecutor for not choosing to solely argue whether they held Ferguson intentionally killed his wife or whether he solely acted in such a negligent manner that he was responsible for her death If it is so simple why can t the authorities make up their mind about what theory it is Talley petitioned Instead there is this smorgasbord approach For more than an hour following the shooting Ferguson made a lengthy series of seemingly incriminating statements that were captured on cameras worn by officers and inside the Anaheim Police Station At times Ferguson wept for his wife and his son and castigated himself with self-loathing At other points he bragged about his accomplishments during a lengthy career as a prosecutor and a judge At one point in comments shown to jurors during both trials Ferguson commented to himself I killed her Ladies and Gentleman of the jury convict my ass I did it Ferguson drew the ire of Judge Hunter by embarking on what she described as a press tour that included multiple interviews between the mistrial and the retrial During an appearance on Inside Edition Ferguson mentioned that he and his wife were just bickering like Lucy and Desi before the judge disclosed he accidentally shot and killed her Jurors deliberated for around an hour and a half Monday before leaving for the day They are scheduled to return to resume deliberations on Tuesday morning