Defense defers bond request since Wake Deputy Ned Byrd shooting suspect is on immigration detainer

For almost 30 minutes, attorney Jay Ferguson questioned Deputy Sheriff Craig Chapcot about the evidence he said is "critical" to his client, Arturo Marin Sotelo.

Arturo and his younger brother, Alder Alfonso Marin Sotelo, are being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder connected to Byrd's death in August. Byrd was found shot in the back of the head around 1:06 a.m. on Aug. 12, outside his parked patrol vehicle on the side of Battle Bridge Road in southeastern Wake County.

In affidavits and search warrants related to the case, Arturo Marin Sotelo has pointed the finger at his brother, saying he was in a field away from the scene of the shooting.

Warrants: Six shots audible on video as Deputy Ned Byrd was shot. One brother points finger at the other.

Ferguson tried to get the evidence that might help him prove that claim. He repeatedly asked Chapcot what phone location data and Google GPS showed from the two brothers' phones. He also asked about video from Byrd's dashboard camera from the surveillance camera of a gas station near the shooting scene.

Ferguson characterized the dashcam video as showing a person with a flashlight in the field as Byrd's car arrives. Chapcot noted that the angle of the camera and of the car showed only Byrd and some shadows. The sound of gunshots was captured on the dashcam, Chapcot said, and the muzzle flash was caught on the gas station camera, but neither clearly showed individuals involved.

Brothers indicted on murder charges in shooting death of Wake County deputy Ned Byrd

"Efforts of trying to pinpoint the exact location of the phone are still underway," Chapcot said.

Ferguson asked the judge for an order for "rolling discovery," to require the prosecution to release information as it becomes available. "We believe there is evidence, for my client, to show that he was not at the scene of the shooting," Ferguson said.

"The location of the two brothers' phones is critical to my client."

Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway pushed any decision on rolling discovery to the middle of next month, noting that the case will get another update at a homicide status hearing scheduled for Dec. 15.

"Videos and phone information is very voluminous and is not easily transferred," he said.

Ridgeway warned the prosecution that they should be prepared to have a plan for sharing some of the requested data by that date.

After the prosecutor noted that Arturo Marin Sotelo is suspected of being in the United States illegally and being held on an immigration detainer, Ferguson decided not to ask for a discussion of bond for his client.

Both Arturo and Alder Alfonso Marin Sotelo face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.

Byrd's sister says she hopes justice prevails for her brother.

"He was an amazing person, not just that I lost, (the) community lost," said Mignon Perkins. "He would do anything for anybody. He was my hero."