Jury Gets Home Invasion Case That Killed Two

A prosecutor asked jurors Monday to convict three men of two counts of murder for the deaths of two people during a home invasion robbery in East Oakland last year.

Prosecutor Georgia Santos said 24-year-old Joseph Tabron, 56-year-old Joseph Castro and 50-year-old Joseph Silva are all legally responsible for the shooting deaths of Noe Garcia, 28, of Oakland, and 34-year-old Trisha Forde of Union City at a house at 10730 Apricot St., near Blenheim Street, at about 4 a.m. on March 2, 2013.

In her rebuttal closing argument in the lengthy case, Santos said the three defendants, plus two other men, went to the house to steal flat-screen televisions and a San Francisco Giants bobblehead and Forde and Garcia were killed because they were witnesses to the home invasion robbery.

Santos said the evidence in the trial indicates that Tabron killed Garcia but it’s unclear who killed Forde. But she said all three defendants should be convicted of murder under the felony-murder rule, which holds that if a killing occurs during the commission or attempted commission of a felony the persons responsible for the felony can be found guilty of murder.

Silva gave a statement to Oakland police in September 2013 in which he accepted partial responsibility for the crime and implicated Tabron and Castro, who is Tabron’s uncle.

Silva retracted his statement when he testified during the trial for the three defendants.

His attorney, John McDougall, said today that he believes that Silva yielded to tough questioning by police officers, citing the testimony of a psychologist who examined Silva and found that he’s “an insecure, passive and dependent individual” and “has high levels of compliance and suggestibility.”

But Santos told jurors that they should believe Silva’s confession to police because it’s supported by evidence in the case.

The prosecutor said it wasn’t a coincidence that many of the things that Silva told police were backed up by the evidence she presented during the trial, citing 13 specific things he said that she said the evidence proved were true.

Silva “is either the unluckiest man in the world (that there were 13 coincidences) or he participated in this robbery with the others,” Santos said.

She said among the things that jurors should believe is Silva’s statement that Tabron shot Garcia.

According to Santos, Silva was referring to Tabron when he told police, “As soon as he shot that guy (Garcia) I ran. I see him point the gun and then shoot it.”

But defense attorney William DuBois, who represents Tabron, told jurors in his closing argument on Thursday that he thinks the killings remain “unsolved” and his theory is that Garcia killed Forde out of jealousy and someone else responded by killing Garcia.

DuBois said Tabron, Castro and Silva “are guilty of a number of crimes,” including robbery, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and grand theft, but not murder because he believes there was no connection between the home invasion robbery and the deaths of Garcia and Forde.

However, the three men are only charged with murder, not the other crimes, and will be set free if they aren’t convicted of that charge.

The evidence in the case indicates that Forde was killed by bullets fired from an Uzi and that Garcia suffered a wound from an Uzi bullet in his leg but was killed by bullets fired from a semi-automatic handgun.

DuBois alleged that Garcia “was there to shoot somebody” and was armed with an Uzi. He said he believes the ballistic evidence indicates that Garcia killed Forde and then accidentally shot himself in the leg, giving another shooter an opportunity to kill him in response.

Santos said she believes the two other people who joined the three defendants in staging the home invasion robbery were Tabron’s older brother, 26-year-old Jeffrey Tabron, who will be prosecuted separately, and a man nicknamed “Taco” who is still at large.

In addition to two counts of murder, Joseph Tabron faces special circumstance allegations that he committed the murders during a robbery and a kidnapping. He would face life in prison without parole if jurors find those allegations to be true.

Prosecutors say that Castro has 12 prior felony convictions, Jeffrey Tabron has three prior convictions and Joseph Tabron has two prior convictions.

--Bay City News