Jurors in the Sierra LaMar trial this week began hearing testimony in the “penalty phase” of convicted murderer Antolin Garcia Torres’ fate. The jury will determine if Garcia Torres, 26 of Morgan Hill, will be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison, without the possibility of parole.
Garcia Torres was convicted of murdering Sierra May 9, following a trial that lasted three months. Sierra was 15 at the time she disappeared from her north Morgan Hill home March 16, 2012, and prosecutors convinced the jury that Garcia Torres kidnapped her while she was walking to her school bus stop at the intersection of Palm and Dougherty avenues, and later murdered her.
Sierra was a sophomore at Sobrato High School when she was accosted. Her remains have not been found.
Garcia Torres was also convicted, by the same jury, of three counts of attempted kidnapping in 2009, in the parking lots of two Morgan Hill Safeway stores. These charges are felonies.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office decided before the trial started in January to seek the death penalty for Garcia Torres. Testimony in the penalty phase started May 16 with three of Sierra’s friends, as well as some police officers who have had run-ins with Garcia Torres over the years, taking the stand, according to various news reports.
Sierra’s sister, Danielle LaMar, took the stand May 17.
After the jury reached its verdict, prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a number of motions related to expert testimony during the penalty phase. Defense attorneys are planning to call Dr. Gretchen White to testify “as to the effects of childhood events on the defendant,” according to one of the motions.
A memo from White, included in one of the court filings, cites “Significant, chronic stress and trauma throughout childhood and adolescence due to poverty, neglect, loss, violence and sexual incest.”
White’s memo, summarizing her findings on Garcia Torres’ mental state, also lists “family risk factors” such as “parent criminality, child maltreatment, poor family management practices, low levels of parental involvement, poor family bonding and family conflict, parental attitudes favorable to substance abuse and violence, parent-child separation.”
Garcia Torres’ father is serving a prison term for a 2012 conviction on 17 counts of child molestation for repeatedly raping a female family member.
Defense attorney Brian Matthews asked the jury to consider the impact this household trauma had on Garcia Torres when thinking about his penalty, according to news reports.
In response to White’s evaluation, prosecutor David Boyd asked the court for permission to hire another expert—Dr. Kris Mohandie—to evaluate Garcia Torres.
Defense attorney Brian Matthews objected to Boyd’s request. Judge Vanessa Zecher has not ruled on whether Mohandie can testify on Garcia Torres’ mental state.
Testimony in the penalty phase is expected to last until no later than June 9, according to news reports.
