The ju judges at Orange County Judge Jeffrey Ferguson’s murder trial returned home Friday on the eighth day of deliberation without reaching a decision.
The deliberations began on February 26th, with the trial of 74-year-old Ferguson. He was charged with murder on August 3, 2023 with strengthening sentences for gun discharge and personal use that caused the death of his 65-year-old wife, Cheryl.
The ju judge can convict Ferguson of second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter. If they don’t acquit him, they’ll shoot at the couple’s Anaheim Hills home.
On Friday, the ju judge handed the notes to the judge, and went home early and returned on Monday with more than a week of frustration and fatigue. The deliberations are now longer than the testimony of the trial.
“It’s very strange that the ju-describers are fighting that way and still have hope,” said Royal Oaks, a legal analyst at NBC4. “The judge says if they urged the judge to reach a unanimous verdict too hard, if they appeal and convicted him, the defense says, “Well, the judge put pressure on them.” But again, she just doesn’t want to quit. ”
Cheryl Ferguson’s brother Larry Rosen was there for all of that.
“She was family glue,” Rosen said Friday. “It was the phone about my sister that my siblings miss the most. We were always calling each other.”
Rosen said he had stopped contacting Ferguson a year and a half before the trial. He said he wanted to enter the court stage with a neutral view of his brother-in-law.
After telling the judge they were at a dead end, the ju judge continued to deliberate on the verdict of a former Orange County judge who was accused of killing his wife. Hetty Chang is reporting NBC4 News on Tuesday, March 4th, 2025 at 4:30pm.
“I came here, sat here for the whole trial and heard all the evidence,” Rosen said. “The evidence did not support the murder of my heart at all.”
Rosen said he believes in the defence debate that Ferguson shot and killed Cheryl in a random shooting on the night of August 3, 2023.
“I know Jeff and he’s a great guy,” Rosen said.
Rosen said he was dissatisfied with the judge not declaring the wrong sentence even after he said twice that he was stuck on a double murder charge.
“This should be a woman with a blindfold and scale,” Rosen said. “I don’t think the outcome will be influenced by the judge’s actions or guidance.”
Judge Eleanor Hunter said Thursday that she would declare a false hearing if it was clear to the ju judges that there was no way to a unanimous decision. The ju-degree said there was a “movement” so the deliberations continued.
During the final discussion, the prosecutor’s lawyers tried to convince the ju judge that Ferguson was upset after a dispute with his wife at the restaurant. When the two returned home, Ferguson pulled out a gun and killed his wife in a tragic series of events that guaranteed a murder conviction, prosecutors said.
“You’re being presented with evidence – reliable evidence – he took out the gun, he was mad,” Seton Hunt told ju referees on Wednesday. “He took out the gun and pointed at her to kill her.”
The defense attorney argued that the shooting was a coincidence.
“No, it’s definitely not. It was an accident,” Ferguson said when defense attorney Cameron Tully was asked if he was planning to shoot his wife.
Source link