Saturday, June 20, 2009

Jury finds Garcia not guilty of manslaughter charge

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

A jury acquitted a Tomé man on Thursday in the December 2007 shooting death of 42-year-old Charles "Chucky" Diaz, a high-ranking Bandido gang member.

After deliberating for nearly four hours on Thursday, the jury of five women and seven men found 46-year-old Jimmy Garcia not guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Garcia shot and killed Diaz in what he said was an act of self-defense.

The trial, which was presided over by District Judge John Pope, lasted for four days as jurors heard from many witnesses including a motorcycle gang expert, a crime scene reconstructionist, a forensic pathologist, an eyewitness and from Garcia himself. Pope directed a count of aggravated assault be dropped after the prosecution presented its case on Wednesday.

Prosecutors contended that the shooting was not in self-defense. Assistant District Attorney Steve Scott argued that Diaz was walking away from Garcia when he was shot twice, once in the chest and the fatal blow to his left side. Garcia's attorney, Lelia Hood, maintained that her client was the victim and that Diaz was the aggressor that day.

Garcia testified that he had met Diaz a couple of times before the incident. He said that his sister-in-law, Rose Garcia, had been dating Diaz for a couple of months. He told the jury that Diaz introduced himself as Chucky Bandido.

The defendant said that, on the day of the incident, he was raking leaves when he saw an unfamiliar car drive onto his property. Garcia said it wasn't until he approached the car that he realized that it was Diaz.

"I asked him, 'What are you doing here? Where's Rose?'" Diaz said. "He said, 'I could do whatever the (expletive) I want.'"

Garcia testified that, when he told him to leave, Diaz threatened that he was going to run him over. Garcia said that Diaz drove his car at him several times before he finally left the property.

"He said, 'I'll be back,'" said Garcia about the last thing Diaz told him before leaving. "I was scared. I was hoping that he wouldn't come back."

Garcia said a few minutes later, his son, daughter and his grandchild arrived and they all went into his home. He said he was inside for about five minutes before hearing a woman outside yelling. When he looked outside, he recognized the woman to be his sister-in-law, Rose Garcia.

"I saw her, and I was scared because of the earlier incident," Garcia said. "I just thought that she came with the Bandidos. I went back in and grabbed my gun and put in my back.

"I went outside and Rose was there. She was yelling and cussing and asking why I chased Chucky out of there," Garcia said.

Garcia said it was at that time that he saw Diaz walking toward them at a fast pace with something in his hand. Garcia testified that he didn't know what the object was and believed it was either a hammer or a gun.

"He was coming straight at me," Garcia said of the incident. "Rose got out of the way, and he went straight at my head. I blocked myself with my left arm. It happened in a matter of seconds — it happened so fast. I fell back and that's when I grabbed the gun.

"I was so scared — I just shot," he said. "I don't even know how many times I shot. I was scared ... I just wanted it to stop. I was totally convinced that this guy was going to kill me."

Garcia told the jury that he saw Diaz fall to the ground and Rose came out of the trees. He said he then went inside, gave the gun to his son, and left with his family. He testified that when he returned about 15 or 20 minutes later he saw many Bandidos on the road near his house.

When asked by Hood why he didn't call the police after Diaz left the first time, Garcia said he had considered it, but that he was afraid to call the police on a Bandido.

The only eyewitness to the shooting testified earlier in the week and told the jurors that Diaz was walking away from Garcia when he was shot. Rose Garcia, the defendant's sister-in-law, told the jury that she was planning on marrying Diaz in April of the following year.

When asked by Scott what happened that day, Rose Garcia said she was at work when Diaz called her and told her that Jimmy Garcia had pulled a knife on him. She told him to leave and that she'd be right there.

Rose Garcia testified that, while driving home, she called her sister and mother and asked them what was going on. She also said she saw Diaz on the side of the road a few blocks north of her brother-in-law's home.

"When I got there, he was standing outside," Rose said of Garcia. "I confronted him and all he said was that he didn't know it was (Diaz)."

Rose said as she was arguing with Garcia, Diaz walked up and hit Garcia with a flashlight. She said she told Diaz, "let's go" and when he walked away, Garcia pulled out his gun.

"I screamed, 'No', and that's when he shoots him," Rose said. "I saw Chucky grab his side and he bent over. I said, 'Oh my God, you (expletive) shot him' and that's when he shot him again."

Rose Garcia testified that after Diaz fell to the ground, she walked toward her brother-in-law, yelling at him. She said it was at that time that he pointed the gun to her chest before he went back inside and left.

She told the jury that she went to Diaz and performed CPR on him until paramedics arrived on the scene.

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