Opening statements have begun in the retrial of Antolin Garcia-Torres, whose 2017 conviction for the killing of Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar was overturned earlier this year.
Prosecutors and defence lawyers addressed jurors on Monday in Santa Clara County Superior Court, nearly 15 years after the 15-year-old disappeared while walking to a school bus in March 2012. Her body has never been found.
Garcia-Torres was previously convicted of kidnapping and murdering LaMar and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The conviction was overturned in February after an appeals court ruled that allegations involving three unrelated attempted kidnappings in 2009 had been improperly joined with the murder case.
The retrial is expected to focus more narrowly on the evidence surrounding LaMar’s disappearance. Prosecutors have previously said DNA linked to the teenager was found in Garcia-Torres’s vehicle, while fibres from the vehicle were discovered on her clothing.
Deputy district attorney O’Bryan Kenney told jurors that LaMar had no prior connection to Garcia-Torres and alleged that he abducted her as she made her way to school.
Defence lawyer Al Lopez argued that investigators built their case on theory and fear. He said the prosecution evidence would be challenged by the timing of events, physical evidence and the testimony of law-enforcement witnesses.
Witness testimony is due to begin when the court resumes on Tuesday. The proceedings are expected to continue for several months.
