Man Guilty of 2012 Kidnapping and Murder of California Girl Gets Conviction Overturned

A California court overturned a man's guilty conviction for the 2012 kidnapping and murder of a 15-year-old.

The California Sixth District Court of Appeals has opened the door for a new trial for Antolin Garcia-Torres, 34, who in 2017 was sentenced to life without parole. Garcia-Torres was previously found guilty of kidnapping and killing 15-year-old Siearra LaMar in 2012.

Court Overturns a 2017 Murder Conviction

ABC 7 News confirmed that the judgment was reversed last Friday in an opinion filed in court. 'There was insufficient evidence of willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder or a specific intent to kill,' according to the report.

The court did confirm that there was enough evidence to prove a felony murder or that LaMar was the victim of a criminal act.

'We just received the opinion and are digesting it,' The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office stated in response to the reversal. 'However, we will never stop seeking justice for Sierra.'

Guilty Charge Reversed Due to an Error in Trial

The reversal hinged on an error in Garcia-Torres' 2017 trial. On top of the first-degree murder charge during the commission of a kidnapping (of LaMar), Garcia-Torres also faced three unrelated counts of attempted kidnapping during a carjacking.

The court says it was a mistake to try Garcia-Torres on all four counts, since the unrelated kidnappings occurred three years prior at a Safeway car park. The court overturned all the convictions, deeming the error 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,' legal analyst Steve Clark said in an interview with KTVU. '[The additional charges] spilled over to him getting convicted of first-degree murder.'

Evidence Debate and Path to Retrial

Prosecutors during the 2017 trial pointed to LaMar's DNA as damning evidence, discovered inside Garcia-Torres' car. The latter's DNA was also on LaMar's clothes, which were retrieved from a field after she disappeared.

Defence argued the DNA traces could be cross-contaminated evidence, accusing the Santa Clara County District Attorney's crime laboratory of faulty forensics.

A legal analyst said the reversal could lead to a lesser conviction for Garcia-Torres. 'What the court said was go back and try it again, but you don't, without new evidence, get to try it for first-degree murder, because there's nothing to prove the willful, deliberate and premeditation required for a jury to get to a first-degree murder,' Michael Cardoza told KTVU. 'So what they'll do is they'll go back and try and get a second-degree murder conviction.'

The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office expressed disappointment over the court ruling. 'Investigators gathered critical evidence, followed all available leads, and worked closely with partner agencies to seek justice for Sierra and her family,' the office said in a Facebook post. 'That work resulted in an arrest and first-degree murder conviction through the criminal court process.'

'We respect the judicial review process, and the role appellate courts play in ensuring fairness and due process. This ruling does not diminish the gravity of this case or the dedication that went into the original investigation.'

LaMar disappeared in Santa Clara County's Morgan Hill on 16 March 2012. No body was ever found, and there's still no update on her whereabouts.