SANTA ANA >> A Southern California judge pulled a loaded gun from his ankle holster and fatally shot his wife during an argument while the couple was watching television, a prosecutor told jurors as the judge’s trial got underway Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson had been drinking on Aug. 3, 2023, when he argued with his wife, Sheryl, during dinner at a local restaurant and later while watching “Breaking Bad” at home with their adult son, prosecutor Seton Hunt said.

At one point in the evening, Ferguson made a gun hand gesture toward his wife, and she later chided him to point a real gun at her, Hunt said.

Ferguson proceeded to point a gun and pulled the trigger, Hunt said. He was later taken into custody by police and, in comments captured on a video recording, pleaded for a jury to convict him.

“I killed her,” Ferguson is heard saying on the recording. “I did it.”

Ferguson, 74, has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer contends the shooting was an accident.

Wednesday’s statements came at the beginning of Ferguson’s trial on a murder charge in the shooting death of his wife in a case that has roiled the legal community in Orange County. To avoid a conflict of interest, a Los Angeles County judge is presiding over the case before jurors in the Orange County city of Santa Ana — not far from where Ferguson previously heard cases in his courtroom.

Ferguson sat in court as a defendant and wore a gray suit jacket and glasses. His lawyer, Cameron J. Talley, reserved his opening statement for later in the trial, but previously said the shooting was accidental, not murder.

Ferguson and his adult son 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 prosecutors’ court filings. Authorities said they later found 47 weapons, including the gun, and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition at his home.

After the shooting, Ferguson was arrested and initially released on $1 million bail.

He was taken back into custody last year after Judge Eleanor J. Hunter contended that he had lied about drinking alcohol while out on bond, which would violate the terms of his release. Ferguson got out of jail again in October — this time on $2 million bail.

Ferguson is an elected judge in Orange County.