Appeals court ruling could grant new trial in Sierra LaMar case

Potential new trial in Sierra LaMar case

Antolin Garcia Torres, has been serving a life sentence without parole in San Quentin for the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Sierra LaMar, but today the state court of appeals ordered his conviction be reversed.

MORGAN HILL, Calif. - The man convicted in the 2012 kidnapping and killing of Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar may get a new trial following a court ruling filed Friday.

California's Sixth Appellate District Court found that prosecutors improperly consolidated charges from an unrelated 2009 kidnapping case with the 2012 murder case, ruling the move was prejudicial.

"What the court is saying is there was error in the original trial when they allowed these additional charges to come into Mr. Garcia-Torres, and they said that was prejudicial," said legal analyst Steve Clark. "[The additional charges] spilled over to him getting convicted of first-degree murder"

It is unclear when a new trial might take place.

In a statement Friday evening, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said, "We just received the opinion and are digesting it. However, we will never stop seeking justice for Sierra."

Friday's court ruling does not mean Garcia-Torres will be released from custody.

Prosecutors will now decide whether the case returns to Santa Clara County Superior Court, or whether they will appeal Friday's ruling and take it to the California Supreme Court.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

Sierra LaMar case: Potential new trial after conviction overturned

Legal analysis from Michael Cardoza on the potential for a new trial in the case of Sierra LaMar, the 15-year-old who was kidnapped from Morgan Hill and murdered in 2012. Antolin Garcia-Torres was convicted with her killing in 2017.

Disappearance of Sierra LaMar

The backstory:

Sierra LaMar, 15, disappeared in Morgan Hill on March 16, 2012. She has not been seen or heard from since, and her body was never found.

In 2017, Antolin Garcia-Torres, then 26, was convicted of her murder and kidnapping. He was sentenced in December 2017 to life in prison without the possibility of parole and is serving his sentence at San Quentin State Prison.

Garcia-Torres pleaded not guilty to LaMar’s murder and to the attempted kidnappings of three women in Safeway parking lots in 2009, incidents unrelated to LaMar’s case.

Prosecution’s case

What they're saying:

During the 2017 trial, prosecutors sought to prove Garcia-Torres killed LaMar despite the absence of a body, murder weapon or autopsy.

Prosecutors said LaMar’s DNA, including a strand of hair found on a rope, was discovered inside Garcia-Torres’ car. His DNA was found on clothing belonging to LaMar that was recovered in a field near where she disappeared.

Investigators arrested Garcia-Torres on May 21, 2012, about two months after LaMar went missing, after his DNA was identified on her jeans.

Authorities also found LaMar’s DNA on an interior backseat door handle and on the outside of a pair of work gloves inside Garcia-Torres’ 1998 red Volkswagen Jetta.

Verdict reached in penalty round of Sierra Lamar case

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Defense arguments

During the trial, defense attorneys argued that evidence may have been cross-contaminated during collection, pointing to sloppy techniques by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s crime laboratory.

Garcia-Torres’ thumbprint was also found on a 9-volt Duracell battery inside a stun gun recovered from the car of one of the women who reported an attempted kidnapping and carjacking in 2009.

Defense attorneys argued that Garcia-Torres, who worked as a courtesy clerk at Safeway, could have legitimately handled the battery if the packaging had been opened before it was resold.

The Source: Information in this story came from California's Sixth Appellate District Court, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office and previous KTVU reporting on Sierra LaMar and Antolin Garcia-Torres.

Morgan Hill Crime and Public Safety