Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, whose first murder trial ended with a deadlocked panel just days ago, will likely soon find himself in front of another jury as soon as early April.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter set an April 7 date for a retrial and rebuffed defense requests to delay the proceedings until May.
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Prosecutors allege that an inebriated Ferguson — angered at his wife, Sheryl, mocking him — pulled out a Glock .40-caliber pistol he always carried in an ankle holster and intentionally shot her while the couple and their adult son were watching the television show “Breaking Bad” at their Anaheim Hills home.
Ferguson says the shooting was an accident. He testified during his first trial that he was trying to put the gun on a coffee table when his bad shoulder gave out and he fumbled the firearm and inadvertently fired the fatal shot.
The previous jury deliberated over nine days before deadlocking 11 to 1 in favor of second-degree murder.
During a Thursday morning, March 13, hearing in Judge Hunter’s downtown Los Angeles courtroom, Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt said that based on discussions with other jurors, his office believes the hold-out juror was pushing for a conviction on a lesser count of manslaughter.
Defense attorney Cameron Talley told Judge Hunter that he has another trial that may begin the first week of April and could push back Ferguson’s retrial.
The retrial, like the initial trial, will be in Orange County with Hunter presiding. A retrial within a month or two of a hung jury would be a relatively rapid turnaround compared to recent Orange County murder trials.
