An Orange County Superior Court judge accused of murdering wife had his bail doubled to $2 million and was immediately taken into custody on Tuesday, Sept. 24, after a Los Angeles County judge determined he had lied to cover up consuming alcohol while awaiting trial.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter said she didn’t believe Judge Jeffrey Ferguson’s claim that he hadn’t consumed alcohol since his arrest a year ago. The Los Angeles judge added that Ferguson’s claim that his use of cortisone cream and hand sanitizer had caused a false-positive reading for alcohol on his ankle monitor was “ridiculous.”
The judge raised Ferguson’s bail from $1 million to $2 million. Two deputies handcuffed Ferguson in the courtroom immediately after the ruling and began the process of booking him into the Los Angeles County jail system. Judge Ferguson’s attorney, Ed Welbourn, said after the hearing that he wasn’t immediately sure if Ferguson would be able to pay the higher bail.
Ferguson is accused of fatally shooting his wife, Sheryl Ferguson, through the chest with a .40 caliber Glock he allegedly pulled from an ankle holster during an argument in front of the couple’s son at their Anaheim Hills home. Ferguson’s attorney has previously described the shooting as “a terribly unfortunate accidental discharge.”
Judge Ferguson’s criminal case has been assigned to a Los Angeles judge in order to avoid a potential conflict of interest with his judicial colleagues within the Orange County court system.
That Ferguson avoid alcohol had been a key condition when he was allowed to be freed on bail following his arrest and criminal charges. An ankle monitor he was required to wear detected suspected alcohol use on Aug. 28 and 29.
Ferguson, in recent testimony, said he has a health condition that can lead to swelling of his legs. That swelling was particularly acute the week before the recent Labor Day holiday, Ferguson testified. In order to reduce redness and chafing on his skin under his ankle monitor, Ferguson claimed he used the cream and sanitizer.
An analyst who works with the company that oversees the ankle monitor testified, however, that the readings on Ferguson’s monitor came from the consumption of alcohol, not the use of cream or sanitizer.
Under cross-examination by a prosecutor, Ferguson during earlier testimony acknowledged that one of the days the ankle monitor allegedly found alcohol in his system he had attended a lunch with two sitting Orange County Superior Court judges, who he identified as Andre Manssourian and Jonathan Fish.
Welbourn provided the court with a hair sample analysis that he contended proved Ferguson hadn’t had any alcohol. But the judge noted the defense report itself acknowledged it wasn’t a forensic analysis and shouldn’t be used in criminal proceedings.
The defense attorney argued that Ferguson isn’t a flight risk or danger to the community and urged Judge Hunter to just add to his previous bail conditions such as limiting his ability to drive or requiring him to attend self-help meetings.
“With the conflicting evidence we have, we are in a position where don’t know what happened,” Welbourn said.
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Judge Hunter told Ferguson that if he had come to her courtroom and admitted to making a mistake and drinking alcohol she would have understood and likely given him a warning and the minor new bail restrictions suggested by the defense attorney. But by denying he had consumed any alcohol, Ferguson had turned it into a credibility question, Judge Hunter added.
“I hate it when people lie to me,” Hunter told Ferguson.
Hunter also told Ferguson that she had come close to completely denying bail, which would have forced him to remain in custody until trial. Judge Hunter said she believed that Ferguson had been drunk when he went to the lunch with his Orange County judicial colleagues.
“I do believe he was driving while drunk,” Hunter said.
Judge Manssourian and Judge Fish declined to respond to questions about their lunch with Ferguson that were sent through court officials. Orange County Superior Court spokesman Kostas Kalaitzidis cited court rules prohibiting judicial officers and the court from discussing pending judicial matters. While Ferguson’s criminal matter is being heard by a Los Angeles judge, it remains an Orange County Superior Court case.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt, the Orange County prosecutor assigned to Ferguson’s case, declined to comment on the bail ruling. During the hearing, the prosecutor told Judge Hunter that he hopes to start Ferguson’s trial early next year.
