DA: Indictment will speed up ‘justice’

Twenty-one months after the arrest of the man who allegedly kidnapped and killed 15-year-old Sierra LaMar of north Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County’s top prosecutor brought the case to the Criminal Grand Jury which “finally” – in the words of the victim’s cousin – indicted the suspect for his alleged involvement in the crime Tuesday.
Antolin Garcia Torres, 22 of Morgan Hill, was scheduled to be arraigned at a hearing Thursday in Santa Clara County Superior Court, in Judge Thang Barrett’s courtroom, according to Deputy District Attorney David Boyd. After the arraignment, the case is likely to move to the Superior Court’s trial calendar.
Judge Sharon Chatman has presided over the last few hearings for Garcia Torres, who has declined to enter a plea in his last 15-plus appearances.
Garcia Torres was indicted Tuesday for the March 16, 2012 kidnapping and murder of Sierra, in addition to a series of unrelated violent attacks on Morgan Hill women in 2009, according to a statement from the DA’s Office.
The DA’s Office had already charged Garcia Torres with these crimes shortly after his May 2012 arrest, but decided to take the case to the Criminal Grand Jury as the normal Superior Court process has dragged on with no sign of an approaching resolution.
“The District Attorney’s Office took this case to the criminal grand jury to expedite the lengthy criminal process, which began almost two years ago,” DA Jeff Rosen said. “Sierra’s family, the surviving victims and our entire community deserves justice.”
Boyd added that “statistically” it is uncommon for the DA’s Office to go to the Criminal Grand Jury to bring felony suspects to trial. But for cases similar to Garcia Torres’ – which have dragged on for such a long time – the process is not unusual.
Marc Klaas, the founder of an organization that assisted local volunteers in the first few months after Sierra’s disappearance, had a mixed reaction to this week’s news.
“I’m glad the wheels of justice are moving forward but, oh my God, it’s been almost two years since that girl was kidnapped and … since he was arrested,” said Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter Polly Klaas was kidnapped from the family’s Petaluma home and murdered in 1993.
Klaas is the founder of the KlaasKids Foundation which provides search services for the families of missing children.
“I think it’s a travesty of justice that her family has had this linger out there all this time while this ridiculous process plays out,” he continued.
He noted some revisions – perhaps constitutional – should be made to a criminal justice process in which “everything is geared toward the comfort and safety of the rights of the person that committed the crime.”
Klaas added that the prosecution of Garcia Torres has seemed to take longer than those of other accused kidnappers he has been aware of. The murderer of Michelle Le, 26 of Hayward, for example, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison Oct. 2012 – less than 18 months after Le’s death.
Sierra disappeared from her mother’s home near the intersection of Palm and Dougherty avenues before school March 16, 2012, according to authorities.
Garcia Torres was arrested May 21, 2012 by Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering Sierra. In December, 2012, Garcia Torres was charged by prosecutors for his alleged involvement in at least three unrelated attempted carjackings and assaults, which occurred in the parking lots of Safeway grocery stores in Morgan Hill in 2009.
Garcia Torres has remained in custody with no bail since his May 2012 arrest.
A Criminal Grand Jury indictment is one of two ways generally that a criminal case can reach the trial stage. Normally, a preliminary hearing is scheduled in which prosecutors present evidence showing the suspect committed a crime, and the judge determines if the evidence is sufficient to go to trial. In Garcia Torres’ last few hearings at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, Boyd has asked the judge to compel the defendant to enter a plea and suggest a date for a preliminary hearing – neither of which have happened.
But in some instances – as in Garcia Torres’ case – the 19-member Criminal Grand Jury can make its own determination that there is enough evidence for a trial, and subsequently charge the suspect without a lengthy preliminary hearing.
Rosen said his office has been presenting the Garcia Torres case to the Criminal Grand Jury over the last few weeks.
After Garcia Torres’ arraignment Thursday, his case will move to the Superior Court trial calendar, the DA added.
Sierra’s cousin, Keith LaMar of Sacramento, said the family is relieved to know the prosecution of Garcia Torres will “finally” move forward. The family has been frustrated by repeated continuances.
“We’re all very happy to see this going forward,” Keith LaMar said. “We’re still hoping to see Sierra soon as well.”
Neither Sierra nor any sign of her current whereabouts have been found since she disappeared. A group of volunteers still meets every Saturday in Morgan Hill to search for the missing teen or any evidence of what happened to her.
Investigators think Sierra, who was a sophomore at Sobrato High School at the time of her disappearance, was kidnapped as she was walking to her usual school bus stop.
Police think Sierra is dead based on her lack of contact with anyone.
Other recent Criminal Grand Jury indictments include those of three of the five suspects accused of shooting and killing 14-year-old Sobrato High freshman Tara Romero, who was shot and murdered in a Nov. 4, 2011 drive-by shooting in west Morgan Hill, police said. Esmeling Bahena, Ramon Gutierrez and Primitivo Hernandez were indicted for murder and attempted murder by the Criminal Grand Jury in August 2013.
Since then, Gutierrez has been found incompetent to stand trial, but the other four suspects – including Fernando Mateo Lopez and Ricardo Diaz – are scheduled for trial later this month, according to authorities.