Final defendant denies role in deputy’s murder
There was an innocent explanation for Eloyn Ingraham’s actions on the night Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Tephford was murdered in 2006, Ingraham’s lawyer said Tuesday.
Defense attorney Daniel Aaronson, the attorney for the last of three men accused of arranging to have Tephford and fellow Deputy Corey Carbocci shot during a routine traffic stop in Tamarac, said Ingraham is the only one of the defendants who can make a credible case for innocence.
Attorneys for the other two defendants, Andre Delancy and Bernard Forbes, made similar arguments last week and Monday — the men were friends on the street, but on trial and facing execution if convicted, it has been every man for himself since opening statements last June.
Prosecutor Mike Satz had argued that Ingraham was the passenger in a Toyota that had been pulled over at the Versailles Gardens complex by Tephford late on Nov. 11, 2006. Ingraham gave deputies a fake name and called Forbes and Delancy, who showed up with guns blazing, Satz said. Tephford died at the scene. Carbocci survived.
Aaronson said Tuesday that Ingraham, 40, wasn’t trying to avoid capture and had no reason to want Tephford dead. He gave a fake name because he was cheating on the mother of his son with the driver of the car that had been pulled over, Aaronson said.
His phone call to Forbes was simply to complain that he was being pulled over, Aaronson said. Another nine-minute call to Forbes, which remained open throughout the shooting incident, was placed accidentally, and no conversation took place, Aaronson said.
Crucially, Aaronson said, a witness testified that after the shooting, Ingraham was heard cursing out his co-defendants — “What the [expletive] did you do?” Ingraham yelled, according to the witness.
“There is no evidence that shows Eloyn Ingraham’s innocence more than those words under the circumstances they were yelled,” Aaronson said. “They show that he was not involved in a conspiracy to commit murder.”
Jurors will hear next from Satz, who has a final opportunity to rebut the defense closing arguments on Thursday.
Broward Circuit Judge Paul Backman will bring the jury back on Friday to provide instructions on the laws the jury must consider when they begin deliberations. The jury can take as long as they need to review the evidence and reach a verdict.
The jury will be sequestered during deliberations, which will begin Friday and run through the weekend, Backman said.