In their closing arguments on Wednesday, defense attorneys for 26-year-old Antolin Garcia-Torres insisted that Sierra LaMar isn't dead. She's just missing. The Morgan Hill 15-year-old disappeared five years ago and her body has never been found.
Garcia-Torres was arrested for LaMar's murder - even without a body - and Santa Clara County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. The trial has been going on since January and this week is attorneys' closing arguments.
In an unusual closing argument move, defense attorney Alfonso Lopez produced something he called a "shame bucket" and displayed it to the six man, six woman jury. Lopez kept dropping red balls in the bucket in an attempt to claim prosecutors haven't produced enough evidence to convict his client.
If we were on the jury, we would feel that a bucket prop to defend a man in the killing of an innocent child would be pretty crass. But alas, we are not on the jury.
Then, in perhaps an attempt to connect with younger, more social media savvy jurors, Lopez listed his Top 10 Reasons that Antolin Garcia-Torres is innocent. Just a reminder, this is a trial for a presumed dead child and not a late night talk show or Facebook click bait. Again, we don't have a law degree (unless watching a lot of ID: Investigation Discovery counts) but courtroom tactics like these seem incredibly gross when justice for a 15-year-old student is on the line.
"We don't see evidence she's deceased. She's missing, nothing else," said Lopez, who earlier in the trial argued that LaMar ran away because she was afraid to tell her mom that she might be gay and/or because of bad grades.
Prosecutors allege that LaMar's hair was found on a rope in Garcia-Torres' trunk, her clothes, which were discovered dumped in a bag, were dirt-stained and indicated she'd been dragged, and that Garcia-Torres purchased 20 gallons of bleach and a turkey baster that he can't account for. Garcia-Torres is also suspected of trying to kidnap three other women in separate incidents dating back to 2009. Oh, and Garcia-Torres' DNA was found on LaMar's pants.
Here is Lopez's complete Top 10 Reasons why his client didn't kill the victim, who is obviously not just missing. In typical Top 10 fashion, they start at #10 and work down. This is not a joke, he really did this:
- 10. Garcia-Torres' calm demeanor on a Bank of America video after the girl disappeared.
- 9. No tools to hide the body.
- 8. No statement of guilt.
- 7. No motive.
- 6. No murder weapon.
- 5. No eyewitnesses.
- 4. No crime scene.
- 3. No evidence of damage to her clothing.
- 2. No cause of death.
- 1. She's a missing person.
