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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.

Municipal code violationA resident of Taylor Avenue reported that a neighbor was working on a commercial fishing boat that was parked in the street, in violation of the city’s municipal code. Police contacted the boat owner and said he would be moving the vessel back into his yard in a few minutes. The neighbor who reported the violation called police again to report the boat owner was running around his yard with a chainsaw, threatening to cut down his trees in retaliation for calling police on him. The incident was reported 5:11 p.m. May 12.FraudSomeone broke into a vehicle that was parked in Gilroy, and stole credit cards. The victim later reported her bank statement showed an unauthorized charge for $26 at Carls Jr., 16995 Condit Road in Morgan Hill. The fraud was reported 8:27 p.m. May 12.A thief or thieves stole a woman’s purse from her shopping cart while she was shopping at Wal-Mart, 170 Cochrane Plaza. In the purse were credit cards and about $35 cash. The suspect or suspects used one of the credit cards to make a $59 purchase at the same store. The crime was reported 7:41 p.m. May 13.An unspecified number of suspects used counterfeit $20 bills to pay for about $120 worth of merchandise at Big 5 Sporting Goods, 150 Cochrane Plaza. The crime was reported 5:23 p.m. May 5.AccidentAn allegedly drunken driver crashed his vehicle into a tree near the Morgan Hill Library, 660 West Main Ave. The driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI.Someone drove a black sedan into a fire hydrant on the corner of Monterey and Cochrane roads, causing water to spray into the air uncontrollably. The drier fled the scene. The accident was reported 12:15 a.m. May 8.VandalismGraffiti including a swastika, upside-down crosses and foul language was reported at the Downtown Amphitheater, 17000 Monterey Road. The vandalism was reported 1:26 p.m. May 15.Someone broke into the pool and clubhouse area of the Jackson Oaks subdivision on Oak Hill Court, and set fire to two restrooms, burned the trash cans and caused other damages. The crime was reported 11:50 a.m. May 13.A vandal or vandals slashed all four tires of a Nissan Versa parked on the street outside Hill Haven Mobile Home Park, 17975 Monterey Road. The crime was reported 9:58 a.m. May 14.BurglaryTwo men entered Your Eyes Image, 419 Vineyard Town Center, and stole four or five frames. One of the suspects distracted the store employee while the other stole the items. The crime was reported 1:16 p.m. May 13.Auto burglaryTwo vehicles—a red Honda Cruz and a gray Audi Q3—were broken into and ransacked on the 18200 block of Hale Avenue. The crime was reported 3:11 p.m. May 14.Someone broke into a white Suburban parked on San Pedro Avenue. The crime was reported 4:46 p.m. May 14.A thief or thieves broke into a 1995 Honda Accord parked at Executive Inn Suites, 16505 Condit Road, and stole an iPad, amplifier, Air Jordan sneakers, headphones, social security cards and birth certificates. The crime was reported 7:33 a.m. May 9.Someone smashed the window of a white Toyota Rav4 parked at Red Robin, 1045 Cochrane Road, and stole a cell phone, two laptop computers and a suitcase. The crime was reported 9:28 p.m. May 9.Suspicious circumstancesA group of unknown subjects walked into a home on Serra Place and told the resident they were there to pick up a water bottle left there by the cleaning company. The resident called the cleaning company, who said they did not know the subjects. The subjects left the home. The incident was reported 4:25 p.m. May 11.Stolen vehicleA thief or thieves stole a blue 1998 Ford Mustang from a home on Del Monte Lane. The crime was reported 5:02 a.m. May 8.Petty theftSomeone stole car keys and a phone from a vehicle parked in the downtown parking garage on East Fourth Street. The crime was reported 12:58 p.m. May 8.BullyingA parent of a student at Britton Middle School called police to report her son has been bullied repeatedly at the school since January. The parent said she has told school staff about the bullying numerous times but “nothing is being done.” The parent called police 2:37 p.m. May 8. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty. Information is compiled from public records.

Chase Benoit, the convicted murderer who stabbed Morgan Hill resident Cody Flores to death in 2015, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the crime last week, according to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney David Pandori.Benoit, 22 of Morgan Hill, was sentenced at a hearing at the Hall of Justice in San Jose May 12. He was convicted March 10, following a two-month jury trial, of second degree murder and personal use of a knife for stabbing Flores during a house party in east Morgan Hill May 31, 2015.Benoit will serve the sentence for murder “consecutive to one year prison for use of knife in the murder of Cody Flores,” Pandori added.Benoit testified during the trial that he alone killed Flores, 23, with a knife outside the party on East Main Avenue. He claimed he killed him out fear for his own life as the two had a long-standing dispute going back to 2011, when Flores stabbed Benoit’s brother during a fight.Benoit stabbed Flores at least 14 times with the knife, after chasing him through a dark field between East Main and Diana avenues, according to law enforcement authorities and other witnesses who testified during the trial.Flores died at the hospital shortly after the stabbing.While the DA’s office previously charged Spencer Smith, also 22 of Morgan Hill, with the murder of Flores, the same jury found him not guilty of the crime March 10. He was tried in the same courtroom as Benoit.Smith, a longtime friend of Benoit’s, previously pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen firearm and possession of an unregistered firearm. He was also sentenced May 12, to one year in county jail, Pandori said. He received credit for time served while awaiting trial for the murder charge, and was released after the May 12 hearing.Smith’s firearm charges are not directly related to the stabbing death of Flores. The gun was found in a backpack he dropped off at the home of Shyann Surber, who hosted the May 31, 2015 party. He left the backpack at the home earlier that evening.

A tragic date in the history of Crimean Tatar people is drawing close – an anniversary of deportation of Crimean Tatars. This tragedy in its inhumanity can be equated to genocide of the indigenous people of Crimea. By an order of the leader of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin on May 18, 1944 all Crimean Tatars were loaded into freight cars and removed to Central Asia and Siberia. Those who offered resistance and refused to leave their homes were shot in sight, others, who removed in the appointed time, were loaded into barges and flooded in the Black Sea. Totally about 200 thousand Crimean Tatars dead or were deported at that time.

It was cold, windy, getting dark, dust was everywhere and did I mention cold?

Sobrato had just battled to keep the ball alive in a long volley only to see Harker’s Jarrett Anderson score a kill to go up 19-17 in a bid to take Game 3 and force a fourth.

Alice (Kiyoko Okamura) Matsumura passed away peacefully in her home on April 18.

BrandishingA man in a lifted white or silver pickup pointed a handgun at another motorist on Cochrane Road at the U.S. 101 on ramp during a road rage incident. The driver of the pickup first threw a milkshake at the other motorist before pointing the weapon. The incident was reported 9:34 p.m. May 3.FraudA suspect tried to pass a fraudulent prescription for Oxycontin pain killer at CVS, 16995 Walnut Grove Drive. The crime was reported 9:16 a.m. May 4.Stolen vehicleA 2015 Toyota Tundra was stolen from a location on Monterey Road. The crime was reported 7:04 a.m. May 3.A thief or thieves stole a Jeep Patriot from the area of West First Street and Monterey Road. The crime was reported 12:59 a.m. April 29.Someone stole a green 1999 Honda Civic from Jade Lane. The crime was reported 3:02 p.m. April 29.A black Honda Civic was stolen from a parking space on West Dunne Avenue. The crime was reported 8:37 a.m. April 30.Petty theftA white male with a “husky” build, partly shaved head and a hair bun stole two 18-packs of beer from the AM PM Mini Mart, 18605 Monterey Road. The crime was reported 3:45 a.m. April 30.A man with a blue macaw bird on his shoulder entered Big 5 Sporting Goods, 150 Cochrane Plaza, with no shoes on, and left wearing a pair of stolen work boots. Store employees reviewed security video footage, which showed the man putting on a pair of boots from a box that was later found empty inside the store. When contacted by police, the man said he intended to go back and pay for the boots, and he had an arrangement with the store manager. The incident was reported 11:50 a.m. May 2.Animal controlAt least two dogs, possibly pit bulls, broke into a neighbor’s yard on Rose Lane and attacked a smaller dog. The victim dog was “in bad shape” after the attack and was later euthanized, according to police reports. The dog attack was reported 8:44 p.m. April 30.AccidentA pickup truck crashed into a parked car in the area of Juan Hernandez and San Vicente Drive. No significant injuries were reported. The accident was reported 9:01 p.m. April 30.Hit and runA white Volkswagen Jetta ran up onto the lawn of a property on Concord Circle. The driver left the scene, but left the car there. The accident was reported 6:45 a.m. May 1. BatteryA woman told police a man in the downtown parking garage, 50 E. Third Street, tried to assault her while she was entering her parked vehicle. The woman was walking alone when the man, described as “clean cut” and Hispanic, walked up to her and said he would walk with her to her vehicle. The woman tried to “joke it off,” but the man grabbed her chest and tried to kiss her as she approached her vehicle. She was able to honk the horn of her car and scare the man away. Police did not locate the suspect. The incident was reported 11:18 a.m. May 2.Auto burglaryA thief or thieves broke into a Ford Edge parked at Bank of the West, 206 Tennant Station, and stole a purse. The suspect or suspects also slashed a tire on the vehicle. A witness saw the theft and provided a description to authorities. The crime was reported 9:22 a.m. April 26.TheftTwo men stole a power saw out of a Ford F150 pickup parked at The Home Depot, 860 E. Dunne Ave. The crime was reported 8:36 a.m. May 4.The father of a man who died in November 2016 reported that $27,000 worth of gold was stolen from his son’s safe. The theft was reported 3:58 p.m. April 26 from a home on Ril Marianna Court.All subjects are innocent until proven guilty. Information is compiled from public records.

Sierra LaMar’s family along with dozens of volunteers who have been searching for her the last five years let out a collective gasp of relief May 9 when they heard the jury found Antolin Garcia Torres guilty of the Morgan Hill teen’s murder.