Kidman Letters Page - updated June 7, 2000

Send in a letter before the sentencing date of the 26th. In fact, the victim's advocate (Liz Martinez) suggests that the letters be sent by the 16th, but she's sure the judge will read them even if they are sent later than that.

Everyone's opinion is important, and all will have a bearing on how Judge McDonald decides what the sentence should be.

Letters should be addressed "Dear Judge McDonald" but sent to:

Liz Martinez, Victim's Advocate
Office of the District Attorney
P.O. Box 669
Bernalillo, NM 87004

From Sonya

I think the letters should:

personalize Russ & Mary to the judge so that they are not just more names,
state impact their death has had on the person writing the letter, and
ask for the maximum sentence, and that this be considered a serious crime.

From Joe

I have been spending a lot of time thinking and agonizing over this case. The loss of Mary and Russ has of course affected each of us in various ways and in various degrees. There are both emotional and pragmatic aspects to this case. Keeping this in mind, there are some thoughts on this that I think all of us could relate to:

We're dealing with an alcoholic that cannot be trusted to keep himself from getting behind the wheel of a car. His previous record proves this.
Due to certain mitigating circumstances, there is little chance or incentive for him to improve his behavior.
These same mitigating circumstances may make the judge consider an abbreviated prison term or perhaps even a supervised release (probation).
I THINK that standard parole procedures in New Mexico start after 50% of the prison term has been served. That means even with the 22 year maximum sentence, Garcia could literally be out on the streets after serving only eleven years. Ryland, who first encountered Mr. Garcia's driving habits when he was 8 months old, will be only 12 when Garcia is released. How long will he have known about what happened to his grandparents then?
Stacey and Sonya have both been deeply affected by the loss of their parents. In addition, Stacey is still experiencing nightmares about the collision. The fact that Mr. Garcia is still out on his own recognizance amazes and distresses us all.
Both Russ and Mary were good, positive, productive people. Russ was an accomplished scientist (among many other skills and hobbies), and Mary was very community oriented, including being a member of Civitans and a former president of the League of Women Voters in New Mexico, as well as being a lifelong student. Both of them were taken from us, through no fault of their own, by something that could have been, and should have been, wholly preventable. This WILL happen again and again to other families. Will the same person be responsible for another one of these tragedies? How often will someone else do the same thing that Mr. Garcia did on the afternoon of September 17, 1999 - get intoxicated, get behind the wheel, and think to himself it's "no big deal"? Will that person care at all about what he might do? Will that person consider all of the possible consequences?

Some more personal notes

In my minds eye, I don't see Russ as the hale and hearty competitive man and loving grandfather he once was, or the man that I skied with and who gave me his daughter to marry. I still see him as the cold, broken body laid out in a casket, eyes closed, and gone.
I don't yet remember Mary as the wonderful woman that cared for our son when he was a tiny baby, the lifelong student and community activist. I still remember her with her broken, swollen body hooked up to a breathing machine with a tube in her throat, slowly drowning in her own fluids.
Every day I see Stacey trying to cope with her parent's being gone. Every time she wants to call Mom and tell her the latest thing the baby did and she can't, every time she can't sleep because of the horror of her dreams, the days she just can't do anything because of the overwhelming feeling of loss, I do what I can, but I can't do what she really wants. I can't bring them back.

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