Garcia updates

Last updated Feb 14, 2001

September

Mr. Garcia was taken to Los Alamos Medical Center, stabilized, and then flown to UMC in Albuquerque. He was apparently conscious at LAMC and was heard to be loudly proclaiming his innocence. Mary was in the next bed and probably heard most of the conversation between Mr. Garcia and the ER doctors, including the phrase "How many beers have you had?".

Oct 18

Contacted magistrate court. All the information they had was that there was a grand jury indictment out and there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. They indicated that they believed he was still in the hospital & also that his case has been transferred to the district court.

Oct 22

Mr. Garcia is apparently out of the hospital and in rehabilitation. He had suffered significant head injuries and is relearning how to walk. Deputy Baker indicated that the Sandoval county jail will not take him in his present condition as they have no facilities for his medical needs. Deputy Baker of course does hope he can be arrested and arraigned soon. The Sandoval county D.A. may have more information on what we can expect about his upcoming apprehension and trial.

Nov 2-4

Since Mary's death, the district attorney handling the case, Lemuel Martinez, has indicated that he may go back to the grand jury to refile for a second count of vehicular homicide. He indicated that the easiest thing to do may be to refile all charges. Mr. Garcia is facing at least 16 years in prison on the first charge alone, Mr. Martinez indicated that an acceptable plea agreement on all charges may be for 17 years. The arraignment date has been set for November 10th, but Garcia may not be released from the hospital by then. He is in rehabilitation at St. Joseph's in Albuquerque. If he is not released from the hospital by then, the arraignment date will be postponed. The Sandoval County Sheriff's department plans to arrest and hold him without bail when he is released.

It looks like Mr. Martinez has not really collected all of the information that he wants for Mr. Garcia's prosecution. He still needs to find and contact witnesses, get statements, etc. He can be contacted at the DA's office in Bernalillo. The number is 505-867-2386.

Nov 23

The only information I have is that the arraignment has been postponed. It looks like it may require some effort by the family to get new charges filed to reflect Mary's death. The explanation of the DA was that since great bodily injury is the same level felony as the vehicular homicide charge, Mr. Garcia will face the same amount of jail time, whatever the charge.

More disturbing news is the rumor that Garcia may have been playing "Chicken" on the highway. This is only a rumor and could probably only be substantiated if there were complaints from other drivers in the Jemez on the evening of September 17th. Russ's last comment before the collision apparently was "He just WON'T move over!".

Dec 28

David Garcia was arraigned on the 22nd. I didn't have much warning of the arraignment - I found out on the 20th and Stacey and I already had plans to be out of town that week. If I had been on top of things I would have sent out a notice but by the time we left they still hadn't scheduled a time. I also might have shown up at the arraignment - Stacey probably not, as she is still experiencing all of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and is still undergoing counseling.

This is the synopsis:

  1. The judge at the arraignment allowed the DA, Lemuel Martinez, to add a second count of vehicular homicide to the charges.
  2. Garcia pled not guilty.
  3. The DA requested $1M bail ($500K for each count) stressing flight risk and unreliability of Mr. Garcia with respect to cars (he had 5 prior DUI convictions before this incident).
  4. The judge released Mr. Garcia to his daughter-in-law "ROR". I assume this means on his own recognizance, i.e. no bail was posted.
  5. Mr. Garcia is apparently back in Espanola. There are 6 months in order to try the case. Total potential prison time, if convicted on both homicide counts is 32 years (6 years for each homicide charge, times 2 years each count for the previous convictions). No word on whether he is going to be tried on any of the other charges (I forgot to ask).

Jan 7, 2000

Contacted the DA again today. Contrary to the Los Alamos Monitor article about the arraignment, the 2 3rd degree felonies DO carry prison terms of up to 6 years each, not 3. The big issue now seems to be whether the prior DUI convictions were "constitutional", i.e. was an attorney involved. Apparently, no attorney, no chance of using the prior(s) to enhance the possible jail time.

I also asked about Mr. Garcia's condition at the arraignment. I had been led to believe that he might still be in a halo, but we was not. He was using a walker and on oxygen. Any attempted driving will violate the conditions of his release.

Mar 3, 2000

A hearing was held in district court in the AM, actually slightly before Stacey, Sonya and I got there. There were several family friends present, including a reporter from the Monitor, and a representative from MADD. Garcia was present with his daughter. We didn't see him, but the MADD representative said Garcia looked healthy, but thin. No oxygen, no walker. Garcia did not take the plea agreement, which was for the two homicides and a 10 year enhancement for the priors - 22 years total. The case will now go to trial sometime in May or June. Maximum prison time will be up to 32 years. Although the case is strong, apparently there is some worries about getting a conviction. We all have our fingers crossed..

May 11, 2000

Another pretrial hearing was held at the end of April. Garcia again rejected the plea agreement. The trial was originally scheduled for the week of May 8 (I think). The defense argued for a 6 month postponement of the trial, (apparently a common defense tactic to "age" the case). Judge McDonald did grant a slight postponement, the "docket date" is June 22. At this time the jury will be selected and the trial will probably start on June 26. The trial is expected to last three days. We should get a 2 week advance notice if there is any change in these dates. There is also another hearing scheduled for May 22nd, at the Bernalillo Courthouse at 2:30 PM, when a possible plea agreement will again be discussed. If Garcia does decide to plead out, another date will probably be set so we can publicly hear him do it (the meeting on the 22nd will be in private chambers).

A few other things came up, including the fact that Garcia is still out on his own recognizance, ostensibly for rehabilitation. When asked about whether Garcia was still in rehab, the defense attorney replied that he didn't know. Apparently also the possibility of Garcia now posting bond came up. At this point, it is probably quite unlikely that Garcia will be required to post a bond (for whatever reason).

May 31, 2000

The May 22nd meeting was canceled because Ms. Dougherty was out sick, & was rescheduled for the 31st. At the hearing Garcia took the plea agreement, which was to plead guilty to both counts of vehicular homicide. The maximum allowed sentencing will now be 12 years for the homicides (6 years each, served consecutively), then 10 years for the 5 prior conviction enhancements (2 years each * 5 * 2 - served concurrently) for a total possible sentence of 22 years (he was facing 33+). Sentencing will be on June 26th, 1:30 PM, at the Bernalillo courthouse. Interestingly enough, Garcia still has not yet been detained.

Now is the time to write Judge McDonald with your opinions. Please take a look at the letters page.

June 26, 2000

Today was a very trying day. David Garcia was sentenced to the maximum possible term under the plea agreement, 22 years. This includes 6 years each for each charge of vehicular homicide to be served consecutively, plus 2 year concurrent enhancements for each prior conviction. Mr. Garcia was detained and escorted away after the sentence was read. More details here.

Feb 21, 2001

Updates from the nmcourts Web site, looks like a motion for reconsideration was filed on 12/11/2000. There was also a proof of mailing of the judgement sent to the MVD. See the end of the case report.

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