An audible sigh rose in the courtroom Tuesday as volunteers who have been searching for missing Morgan Hill teen Sierra LaMar for more than a year realized that Antolin Garcia Torres, 22, also of Morgan Hill, again declined to enter a plea to charges that he killed the missing 15-year-old.
Sierra has been missing from her mother’s north Morgan Hill home since March 16, 2012. Garcia Torres was arrested on May 22, 2012.
As supporters came to terms with the fact that they would have to wait a little longer after months of repeated delays, Deputy District Attorney Brian Welch and Garcia Torres’ attorney, Traci Owens of the Santa Clara County Alternate Defender’s Office, agreed to reschedule the plea hearing until 1:30 p.m. Aug. 22 to allow more time for the discovery – or evidence sharing – process.
As they waited in the muggy atmosphere on the Sixth floor of the Hall of Justice in San Jose prior to the hearing, hopes had been high among Sierra’s supporters that Garcia Torres would get the ball rolling and enter a plea.
“It’s yes or no, either you’re guilty or not,” said Renee Figueira of San Jose.
“It’ll satisfy us searchers and give us confidence,” said Doug Tollis of Morgan Hill, explaining what a plea one way or the other would do. “We’re just at a plateau. A plea would start the clock ticking.”
For Figueira, Tollis and the other volunteer searchers who came to court, however, the clock will stay firmly stopped for now. Their hopes were dashed in front of a packed courtroom.
Seasoned legal professionals were surprised by the turnout of TV cameras and supporters.
“It’s a continuance for discovery,” quipped Owens to a colleague in an unguarded moment. “But people get ghoulish.”
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the comment was specifically about her client, but it was made within earshot of Sierra’s supporters.
Garcia Torres appeared at 1:45 p.m. dressed in a tan suit, with a white shirt and patterned tie. After exchanging pleasantries with Owens, it only took a matter of minutes for the DA’s office and Owens to reschedule the date.
“We continue to turn over discovery and have not yet completed the process,” Welch stated.
Superior Court Judge Sharon Chatman, who addressed members of Sierra’s family and search volunteers in the last plea hearing June 27 to explain the repeated delays, avoided covering old ground again and instead simply addressed Welch and Owens.
“I appreciate both sides being diligent,” she remarked.
Welch says he understands the frustration people feel over the case.
“This is a complicated case with a voluminous amount of discovery,” he explained. “There is nothing that’s not being provided (to Garcia Torres and his attorney.)”
Welch explained that because of the multiple law enforcement entities and divisions involved in the case – the FBI, Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department and the DA’s crime lab to name a few – there is a constant stream of information that comes in, which then must be turned over to Garcia Torres’ legal team. That reason, and that reason alone, is the cause of the delay, he explained.
“None of this time has been caused by Deputy DA David Boyd being on another trial,” he said.
Welch has been filling in for Boyd, but Boyd is expected to be back in time for the next plea hearing on Aug. 22.
Welch says that Sierra’s family and the people who go out every weekend to try and search for any clues to her whereabouts shouldn’t give up hope for a resolution to the case.
“I remind them that the case is a top priority with this office,” he said. “Searches are ongoing for the body.”
Those words were cold comfort for volunteer searcher David Arocha of Sunnyvale as he left the courtroom, vexed by yet another legal delay.
“I understand the process is slow,” he said. “But this is stagnant.”
“They are almost forgetting Sierra LaMar herself,” he added.
