The lawyer for a Southern California judge acknowledged Monday that his client fired the deadly shot that killed his wife but contended it was an accident. Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson sat in the courtroom about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away from where he previously presided over criminal cases,

A Southern California judge charged with the murder of his wife took the stand Monday to testify in his own defense, telling the courtroom he accidentally shot her with the gun he carried in an ankle holster.

The defense attorney acknowledged that Judge Jeffrey Ferguson is an alcoholic who was arguing with his wife, Sheryl Ferguson, before pulling the gun that killed her out of his ankle holster, but denied that the Aug.

An Orange County Superior Court judge accused of fatally shooting his wife in their Anaheim home was trying to remove and set aside his ankle-holstered gun when it accidentally discharged, the jurist’s attorney told jurors Monday.