(KRON) -- Opening statements began Monday in the retrial of Antolin Garcia-Torres, who was previously convicted in the 2012 disappearance and murder of 15-year-old Morgan Hill resident Sierra LaMar.
Garcia-Torres was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping in 2017, but a state appeals court overturned the conviction earlier this year after determining the original trial was tainted by a lack of evidence. Under rules established for the retrial, prosecutors are barred from telling the new jury that the killing was a willful, deliberate and premeditated murder.
The trial will decide whether Garcia-Torres will be exonerated or remain in prison serving a life sentence.
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Sierra LaMar vanished in 2012 while walking to Sobrato High School. Her body was never recovered, but investigators found her purse, cellphone, asthma inhaler and the clothing she was wearing along the side of a road. DNA evidence ultimately linked Antolin Garcia-Torres to her disappearance.
Legal analyst Steven Clark highlighted the critical nature of the proceedings for the defense strategy as the trial begins.
“Today is so critical for the defense particularly. Are they going to present information to this jury that suggests that the first jury got it wrong? I think what the defense will say is Sierra may be dead but we're not responsible for it. Did the prosecution update its case to the point where its forensic evidence meets the scrutiny of today's DNA standards will be very important for the case,” Clark said.
Sierra LaMar (Photo via Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office)
Appellate defense attorney Danalynn Pritz successfully argued the appeal by identifying gaps in the state's case, emphasizing that no witnesses saw Lamar being abducted. Building on the appeal, defense attorney Alfonso Lopez filed a motion in October requesting a judge to drop all charges and dismiss the case, citing claims of new evidence that uncovered prosecutorial misconduct.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published.
