Judge stays on Garcia-Torres murder retrial after disqualification bid

Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Brian Buckelew spent 45 minutes Friday explaining why he would not recuse himself from the retrial of Antolin Garcia-Torres, convicted in 2017 of murdering 15-year-old Sierra LaMar, whose body has never been found. Buckelew disclosed he worked at the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office from 2013 to 2021, but said he worked in gang and narcotics units, not homicide, and declared himself unbiased.

Defense attorney Alfonso Lopez had sought disqualification after Buckelew presided over jury selection and other retrial rulings, but told the court the defense will not appeal, further delaying a retrial already nine years removed from the original conviction. The retrial was ordered after an appeals court found prosecutors improperly combined unrelated 2009 kidnapping allegations with the LaMar case.

Buckelew also ruled Friday on evidence questions, barring prosecutors from using the DNA company Cybergenetics due to the defense's exclusive relationship with it, while allowing evidence of Garcia-Torres's bleach and turkey baster purchases and testimony from an involuntary-urination expert. Jury selection resumes Monday, with prosecutors warning it may take longer than usual given the case's high profile.

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