A hearing for Morgan Hill murder suspect Antolin Garcia Torres was continued Thursday at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, as his attorney told the court his defense team has yet to finish combing through “mounds of evidence” before entering a plea.
Garcia Torres, 22, is accused of killing Sierra LaMar, who disappeared from her north Morgan Hill home March 16, 2012 when she was 15. He is charged with murder and kidnapping, though neither Sierra’s remains nor evidence of her whereabouts have been found, according to authorities.
Garcia Torres remains in custody at Santa Clara County Jail where he has been detained since his arrest May 2012. At Thursday’s hearing he was dressed in a brown suit and tie, similar to garments he has worn to previous hearings. He glanced briefly at the audience both on his way in and out of the courtroom with an expression that a supporter of the ongoing search for Sierra later called “cocky.”
Santa Clara County Alternate Defender Al Lopez, who represents Garcia Torres, told Superior Court Judge Sharon Chatman during the hearing that the suspect’s attorneys are still reviewing evidence shared by investigators and prosecutors, and therefore were not prepared to enter a plea as scheduled. Attorneys have previously said there are more than 10,000 pages worth of evidence in the case which sparked nationwide attention to the missing teen.
The lead prosecutor in the case, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney David Boyd, noted his frustration with the repeated delays in the case. He told the judge he hoped Thursday to hear something “more concrete” from the defendant such as a suggested date for a preliminary hearing.
Garcia Torres’ case has been scheduled for plea hearings more than 15 times since his arrest in May 2012, and he has declined to enter a plea each time.
Chatman set the next hearing for Garcia Torres for March 3 at the Hall of Justice, for entry of plea and setting of a preliminary hearing. She added her “hope” is that Garcia Torres will enter a plea at that time.
The audience at Thursday’s hearing included about 15 volunteers who continue to search weekly – and sometimes twice a week – for Sierra or any evidence of her whereabouts. Those who spoke to the media said they remain frustrated with the ongoing delays in the case, but they are committed to seeing closure for Sierra and her family.
“The love (that) the Sierra LaMar Search Center has shown is unbelievable,” search volunteer Doug Tollis said outside the courthouse after the hearing. Volunteers continue to meet on Thursdays and Saturdays at the former site of Central High School on Monterey Road to coordinate and plan search efforts.
Sierra was a sophomore at Sobrato High School at the time of her disappearance. Investigators think she was kidnapped the morning of March 16, 2012 while she was walking to her school bus stop near the intersection of Palm and Dougherty avenues, which is less than half a mile from the home where she was living with her mother at the time.
Garcia Torres is also charged with a series of unrelated attempted carjacking and assaults in 2009, which occurred in the parking lots of two Safeway grocery stores in Morgan Hill.
For more information on the search for Sierra, including how to volunteer, go to findsierralamar.com.
