Attorneys involved in the case of the man accused of murdering Morgan Hill teen Sierra LaMar continued to verbally spar over the sluggish evidence disclosure process at a hearing Friday, but the suspect again declined to enter a plea.
Antolin Garcia Torres, 22 of Morgan Hill, appeared at the hearing at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. He was handcuffed and wearing County Jail inmate scrubs – a contrast to recent previous hearings where he wore a brown suit and tie.
Garcia Torres is accused of kidnapping and murdering Sierra, who disappeared at the age 15 from her mother’s north Morgan Hill home March 16, 2012. Her remains have not been found, and investigators have not revealed any evidence indicating her whereabouts since finding her cell phone and a bag containing some of her clothes in the early days of the investigation.
Previous recent hearings have centered around the unfinished process requiring investigators to share case files and evidence with the defendant. Authorities have said there are more than 10,000 pages’ worth of evidence in the kidnapping and murder case.
Garcia Torres’ attorney Friday told Superior Court Judge Sharon Chatman that a spreadsheet listing items of evidence, provided by prosecutors and requested at Garcia Torres’ last hearing in October, was “inadequate.” The list only indicated evidence provided by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office so far, while Garcia Torres’ attorney Al Lopez was under the impression the spreadsheet would include a list of items that are “going to come our way.”
Santa Clara County Deputy DA David Boyd was consequently perturbed that the defense waited until Thursday’s hearing to let him know their view on the completeness of the list of evidence.
“It’s frustrating to hear these things for the first time,” said Boyd, who added that he did not indicate he would provide a more complete spreadsheet at the last hearing, as Lopez suggested.
Chatman asked the prosecutor and defense attorneys to “informally” communicate their requests and complaints about the discovery or evidence sharing process to each other before court proceedings in order to speed up the process.
The judge granted Garcia Torres’ request to schedule the next hearing for Jan. 9, 2014, for a status update.
Boyd, noting it has been 17 months since Garcia Torres’ first court appearance following his arrest in May 2012, wanted the defendant to indicate at the next hearing when Garcia Torres will be ready for a “probable cause hearing.”
Chatman asked Owens and Lopez to make such an indication at the Jan. 9 hearing.
A small group of volunteers who continue to search for Sierra or her whereabouts attended Friday’s hearing.
“We just wish they could speed it up more,” said volunteer Mike Nino of San Jose. “All we can do is be patient.”
Nino and other volunteers meet every Saturday morning at the former site of Central High School to conduct searches.
“As soon as we get more information we can find new areas to go (search),” Nino said.
Sierra disappeared as she was walking to her school bus stop near the intersection of Palm and Dougherty avenues, according to authorities. She was a sophomore at Sobrato High School at the time of her disappearance.
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, go to findsierralamar.com.
