Jury convicts a California judge of second-degree murder in his wife’s shooting death

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jurors convicted a Southern California judge of second-degree murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting his wife while the couple argued and watched television at home.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was on trial for the 2023 death of his wife Sheryl, 65, in their Anaheim Hills home. Ferguson took the stand in his own defense, admitting to shooting his wife but saying it was an accident.

Jurors reached their decision Tuesday afternoon, a day after deliberations began. After the verdict was read in court, Ferguson was given a moment to hug his son before he was handcuffed and taken into custody. He was also found guilty of a felony gun enhancement and faces a maximum prison term of 40 years to life when he is sentenced June 13.

Ferguson's attorney Cameron Talley said the defense plans to appeal.

“I respect the jury's verdict,” Talley said. “At the same time, we all know that juries don't always get it right ... I still believe in Jeff.”

The verdict comes after a previous jury deadlocked in March and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter declared a mistrial. Hunter has overseen the case to avoid a conflict of interest with the Superior Court in Orange County, where Ferguson presided over criminal cases until the shooting.

The case had roiled the legal community in the county, which is home to 3 million people between Los Angeles and San Diego. Many have known or worked with Ferguson for decades, including Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.

“There are no winners here," Spitzer said during a news conference after the verdict. “Justice was achieved, but I’m very sad for the Ferguson family.”

Prosecutors said Ferguson had been drinking before he made a gun-like hand gesture toward his wife of 27 years during an argument about family finances they had during dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Aug. 3, 2023. Prosecutors said the argument continued at home while the couple was watching “Breaking Bad” on TV with their adult son, and Sheryl Ferguson chided her husband to point a real gun at her. He did, then pulled the trigger, prosecutors said.

Ferguson testified that he was removing the gun from his ankle holster to place it on a table, and fumbled it, and it discharged.

Immediately after the shooting, Ferguson and his son both called 911, and Ferguson texted his court clerk and bailiff saying, “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry,” according to a copy of a text message shown to jurors. His son Phillip testified to tackling his father to wrestle the gun away after the shooting and performing CPR on his mother.

Ferguson spoke with police outside his home and again once he was in custody, and was seen on video sobbing and saying his son and everyone would hate him. In the video, he said he killed his wife and pleaded for a jury to convict him.

Authorities said they found 47 weapons, including the gun used in the shooting, and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition at the home, and said Ferguson had ample experience and training in firearms.

“This was not an accident. Ferguson was trained to never point a gun at anything he didn’t intend to destroy," Spitzer said in a statement about the verdict.

Ferguson was a long-time prosecutor who became a judge in 2015. He began his legal career in the district attorney’s office in 1983 and went on to work on narcotics cases, winning various awards.

Ferguson had been out on $2 million bail but was not presiding in court as the state constitution bars a judge facing a felony charge from hearing cases.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor Hunter presides over the retrial of Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, who was found guilty on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif., of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife, Sheryl Ferguson, in 2023. (Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool)

Orange County Superior Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, left, who was found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife Sheryl Ferguson in 2023, embraces his son, Phillip Ferguson, before being led away in handcuffs on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool)

An Orange County Superior Court jury found Orange County Superior Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, left, guilty of second-degree murder in the 2023 shooting death of his wife Sheryl Ferguson, and after he embraced his son, Phillip Ferguson, before being led away in handcuffs Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool)

An Orange County Superior Court jury found Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, right, guilty of second-degree murder in the 2023 shooting death of his wife Sheryl Ferguson, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. His attorney's Cameron Talley, is center, and Frances Prizzia, is left. (Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool)

An Orange County Superior Court jury found Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson guilty of second-degree murder in the 2023 shooting death of his wife Sheryl Ferguson, is consoled by his attorney, Cameron Talley, after the verdict was read Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool)

FILE - Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson appears during a hearing at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, Aug. 15, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, Pool, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City Council employee detained in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is an asylum-seeker from Venezuela, according to a court petition seeking his release.

Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez was arrested Monday at a scheduled immigration check-in, enraging city leaders and drawing protesters Tuesday to the Manhattan federal building where he is being held.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Rubio Bohorquez had long overstayed a tourist visa, had once been arrested for assault and “had no legal right to be in the United States.”

City Council Speaker Julie Menin disputed that, telling reporters that Rubio Bohorquez, a data analyst for the city legislative body, was legally authorized to work in the U.S. until October.

Menin, a Democrat, said the council employee signed a document as part of his employment confirming that he had never been arrested and cleared the standard background check conducted for all applicants.

The court petition, reviewed Tuesday by The Associated Press, said Rubio Bohorquez — identified in the document as R.A.R.B. — had always been seeking asylum and was arrested at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum office in Bethpage, on Long Island.

Menin called it a regular check-in that “quickly went awry.”

The document, known as a petition for writ of habeas corpus, said Rubio Bohorquez has no criminal record — no arrests, charges or convictions. A hearing on the petition is scheduled for Friday.

ICE confirmed Rubio Bohorquez’s name. Menin said she wanted to protect his identity and referred to him only as a council employee.

“We are doing everything we can to secure his immediate release,” Menin told reporters Monday. She decried the arrest as “egregious government overreach.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, said he was “outraged” by what he called “an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul referenced Rubio Bohorquez’s arrest in her state of the state speech on Tuesday, asking: “Is this person really one of the baddest of the bad? Is this person really a threat?”

“I will do whatever it takes to protect New Yorkers from criminals, but people of all political beliefs are saying the same thing about what we’ve seen lately: Enough is enough,” said Hochul, a Democrat.

Menin said officials were attempting to reach Rubio Bohorquez’s family and obtain contact information for his immigration lawyer.

The nonprofit New York Legal Assistance Group filed the habeas petition on Rubio Bohorquez’s behalf. The organization’s president and CEO, Lisa Rivera, said it represents dozens of people who have been wrongfully detained by ICE and hundreds who are following immigration procedures in hopes of staying in the U.S.

“This staffer, who chose to work for the city and contribute his expertise to the community, did everything right by appearing at a scheduled interview, and yet ICE unlawfully detained him,” Rivera said in a statement.

According to ICE, Rubio Bohorquez entered the U.S. in 2017 on a B2 tourist visa and was required to leave the country by Oct. 22, 2017. He has been employed by the City Council for about a year, Menin said. His position pays about $129,315 per year, according to city payroll data.

“He had no work authorization,” ICE said in a statement confirming Rubio Bohorquez’s arrest. The agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said that under Secretary Kristi Noem “criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States. If you come to our country illegally and break our law, we will find you and we will arrest you.”

Several dozen people protested Tuesday outside the Greater New York Federal Building, where Rubio Bohorquez was being held. Some carried signs that said “Abolish ICE” and “No Human Is Illegal.”'

Venezuela, whose former President Nicolás Maduro was seized Jan. 3 by U.S. forces, has been roiled for years by violence and economic instability. Nearly 8 million people have fled the South American nation since 2014, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Last year, President Donald Trump's administration ended Temporary Protected Status that had been allowing hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan refugees to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation. It wasn't clear from court papers whether Rubio Bohorquez had been a part of that program.

Disputes over an immigrant’s work authorization have arisen before, in part because many employers rely on E-Verify. The system compares information provided by employees with records available to the government but doesn’t automatically notify an employer if an employee’s right to work is later revoked.

Matthew Malloy, Executive Board Member with the Association of Legislative Employees, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Alexa Avilés, New York City Council member, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Chi Ossé, New York City Council member, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Carlos Calzadilla, President of Brooklyn Young Democrats, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People raise signs during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)