(KRON) — A new trial date has been set for later this month in connection with the killing of 15-year-old Sierra Lamar.
Here’s what the Sierra LaMar murder suspect said to investigators
Lamar disappeared from Morgan Hill in March 2012 after leaving her home for school but never arriving. Her purse, cellphone and clothing were later found along a roadside. Her body has never been found.
In 2017, Antolin Garcia-Torres was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Lamar.
Earlier this year, an appeals court ruled there was not enough evidence to uphold Garcia-Torres’ murder conviction, leading to a retrial.
AG, DA ask California Supreme Court to review Sierra LaMar murder case
Legal analyst Steve Clark told KRON4 that Garcia-Torres’ defense team is now trying to catch Santa Clara County prosecutors flat-footed ahead of the new trial.
“This is a very unusual play by the defense,” said Clark. “Normally murder cases, even retrials, still take a lengthy period of time for the lawyers to get up to speed. This is going to be a very big task for the prosecution to get this case ready for trial so quickly because the last trial was over 10 years ago. This is a very big development today and for the defense, they are taking a very big risk by asking for the speedy trial because once this trial starts, they can’t ask to do it over.”…