SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — Antolin Garcia-Torres was back in a Santa Clara County courtroom Monday morning to prepare for his retrial. He was previously convicted of murdering 15-year-old Sierra LaMar in Morgan Hill, and he was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
The California Court of Appeal for the Sixth Appellate District overturned all of Garcia-Torres’ convictions — one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted kidnapping — earlier this year.
After spending more than a decade behind bars, Garcia-Torres will now get a second chance to prove his innocence. LaMar vanished March 16, 2012 when she missed her bus to Ann Sobrato High School. Despite massive search efforts by volunteers and law enforcement, her body was never found.
In court Monday, the 35-year-old inmate was dressed in a dark gray suit, wore glasses, and his hands were shackled in handcuffs. (Video from inside the courtroom can be viewed in the video player above)…