California judge charged in wife's death arrested on suspicion of drinking alcohol while out on bail

LOS ANGELES — A California judge accused of murdering his wife was taken back into custody Tuesday after the judge overseeing his criminal case claimed he lied about drinking alcohol while out on bail.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson's new bail was set at $2 million. He was handcuffed and led from the courtroom following a hearing to determine whether he had violated his previous bail conditions.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter said that if Ferguson is able to pay the new bail, he will be banned from visiting establishments that serve alcohol.

“I hate it when people lie to me,” Hunter said. “Let's not forget – this is a murder case.”

Ferguson, 73, was previously free on $1 million bail. He is accused of murdering his wife last year and has pleaded not guilty.

When he was first released on bail, Ferguson was required to wear a GPS device and a breathalyzer on his ankle – a requirement that will remain in place if he is released on bail again.

The monitor recorded that he had been drinking alcohol in late August. Ferguson told the court he had used hand sanitizer and other medications to reduce swelling in the ankle, which Hunter said was a “ridiculous story.”

Ferguson's lawyer, Ed Welbourn, declined to comment immediately after the hearing. In court, Welbourn had asked the judge to consider less restrictive measures due to Ferguson's health problems.

“Is he a danger to society? The answer is no,” Welbourn said in court. “The court knows his background. He is not a danger to anyone.”

Prosecutor Seton Hunt said during the hearing that it was clear that Ferguson had violated bail conditions. He declined to comment after Tuesday's hearing.

Ferguson was arrested in August 2023 after police found his wife, Sheryl Ferguson, shot to death. Prosecutors said the couple were arguing and Ferguson was drinking when he pulled a gun from an ankle holster and shot her in the chest.

Ferguson and his son called 911, and Ferguson texted his clerk and bailiff, saying, “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I'm not coming in tomorrow. I'm going to be in custody. I'm so sorry,” prosecutors said in court documents.

Authorities later found 47 weapons, including the pistol, and over 26,000 rounds of ammunition in Ferguson's home.

Ferguson was released on bail, which included a requirement to wear a breathalyzer. Shaun Stewart, who works for the manufacturer of the ankle bracelet, testified in court on Tuesday that the device takes a sweat sample every 30 minutes and measures the alcohol content. He said hand sanitizer and medications do not usually trigger the device, but when they do, the readings do not match those of a person drinking.

Stewart said his company uses a number of criteria to determine whether a blood alcohol reading indicates that someone has actually consumed alcohol, and gives the customer the benefit of the doubt.

“With normal use of hand sanitizer on the hands, the bracelet would not show an alcohol level,” Stewart said in court. “I can say that this is confirmed consumption.”

The number was determined on two days in late August. Ferguson told the court he had not drunk anything on those days, but had gone to lunch with two Orange County judges on one of the days and did not believe they had been drinking, Hunter said.

Ferguson has been a judge since 2015. He began his legal career in 1983 in the Orange County District Attorney's Office and served as president of the North Orange County Bar Association from 2012 to 2014.

In 2017, he was reprimanded by the Commission on Judicial Performance for posting a statement on Facebook about a judicial candidate “with knowing or reckless disregard for the truthfulness of the statement.”

Ferguson and his wife married in 1996.

The arrest shocked the legal community in Southern California. The district attorney's office in Orange County, home to 3 million people, is prosecuting the case, but to avoid conflict, hearings are being held before a judge in Los Angeles County.

Ferguson is due back in court on November 1 for a pretrial hearing.