The plea hearing for Antolin Garcia Torres was delayed again Thursday, as lawyers for the state and the murder suspect continue to disagree on whether or not all the evidence collected in the investigation so far has been shared.
Garcia Torres, 22 of Morgan Hill, appeared at the Hall of Justice in San Jose Thursday afternoon for the scheduled plea hearing.
After discussing the availability of certain evidence files with the prosecuting attorney and Garcia Torres’ counsel from the Santa Clara County Alternate Defenders Office, Superior Court Judge Sharon Chatman urged both sides to communicate clearly and comprehensively regarding the sharing or “discovery” of any outstanding evidence that the defendant has not yet seen.
Garcia Torres is accused of kidnapping and killing Sierra LaMar, who disappeared from her mother’s north Morgan Hill home March 16, 2012. Sierra has not been seen since she vanished that morning, and volunteers continue to search for her whereabouts or remains. She was 15 and a sophomore at Sobrato High School at the time of her disappearance.
Garcia Torres is charged with murder, with a special circumstance of kidnapping. He was arrested in May 2012 on suspicion of the crime, and he remains in custody at Santa Clara County Jail without bail. He appeared in court Thursday wearing a brown suit similar to clothing he has worn at recent court proceedings.
He is also charged with a series of three unrelated attempted carjacking and assaults in 2009, which occurred in the parking lots of two Safeway grocery stores in Morgan Hill.
Garcia Torres’ attorney Traci Owens of the ADO said she just received a pile of compact discs Wednesday containing interviews that were conducted in March 2012, after she was told by prosecutors at the last hearing for Garcia Torres, in August, that all remaining evidence would be turned over by the end of that week.
Furthermore, Owens said some of the evidence she has received from investigators refers to reports or investigations by personnel from the FBI and even the U.S. Secret Service, but she has not received the material that is referenced.
“At the last appearance, (the prosecutor) informed us we would have everything by the end of that week, and that didn’t happen,” Owens said.
She added that not knowing exactly what evidence remains unshared makes it difficult for her to request specific files from prosecutors at the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
“We don’t have a single FBI file or Secret Service file. I’m doing my best but we feel handcuffed to the point we are not as effective as we should be,” Owens said.
The evidence discovery phase in the murder and kidnapping case has been an ongoing issue for several months, as prosecutors and investigators have been delayed by numerous factors in turning over all the evidence.
Deputy D.A. David Boyd said in court Thursday that he thinks his office and investigators have turned over all the evidence they have gathered in the case thus far. But he said he will conduct an “audit” of the evidence he has and what has been shared to make sure everything has been disclosed to the defendant.
Boyd added that he doesn’t know about any evidence in the case relating to or produced by the U.S. Secret Service. He acknowledged outside the courtroom after the hearing that the FBI has assisted in the investigation into Sierra’s disappearance, but he did not reveal any details.
Evidence shared so far – including digital files – is equivalent to “tens of thousands of pages,” Boyd said.
During the hearing, Boyd said he has not received a phone call or e-mail from Garcia Torres’ defense team requesting any additional evidence they think has not been shared.
“The vast majority, if not the entirety of discovery has been given to the defense,” Boyd said. He added that even though his office is not required to share all the evidence before a preliminary hearing, he has always intended to do so in this case.
Chatman urged the two sides to be detailed in their communications outside court regarding any possible outstanding evidence, and she continued the plea hearing to Nov. 15 at the Hall of Justice.
“I know how discovery goes,” Chatman said.
Investigators have said they think Sierra disappeared on a Friday morning while walking to her usual school bus stop about a half-mile from her mother’s house, near the intersection of Palm and Dougherty avenues.
The only evidence disclosed to the public so far are some of Sierra’s belongings found within a couple miles of her home – namely her cell phone, a purse and some of her clothing. Investigators have also said they found Sierra’s DNA in Garcia Torres Volkswagen Jetta, and his DNA on Sierra’s belongings.
Authorities think Sierra is dead based on her lack of communication with anyone since her disappearance.
Volunteers, some of whom attended Thursday’s hearing, continue to search for Sierra or her remains every Saturday morning. The searches are based out of the former site of Central High School in Morgan Hill, 17960 Monterey Rd. For more information about the volunteer effort, call (408) 612-6628, or go to www.findsierralamar.com.
