TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Questions about evidence dominated testimony Monday in the sexual assault trial of former Sheriff’s Deputy Ricky Garcia.
Prosecutors say when Ricky Garcia hosted a Christmas party for fellow deputies two years ago, he took a female deputy too drunk to consent to anything, to one of his bedrooms, locked the door and had sex with her without her consent.
Much of the testimony centered on evidence like clothing that would have the potential to provide a DNA match.
Garcia’s defense attorney Louis Fidel questioned one detective who had to track down evidence that had been missing for three days. He found it at a sheriff’s substation where the evidence was not locked up to prevent tampering.
Fidel asked, “And in your almost 24 years of experience, this is the first time anyone asked you to have to go run down a missing piece of evidence, right?”
The detective said he could not recall a similar case.
Questions about secure evidence handling could raise doubts about whether the evidence was tampered with—-and raising doubts in the jury is the way to get a not guilty verdict.
After the prosecution finished presenting its witnesses, the defense put on a detective who spent a night on the town with Ricky Garcia and the alleged victim. He described heavy drinking, and provocative dancing by the woman and said while in a car with Garcia, the woman had some of her clothes off.
The charges against now Garcia are controversial for more than the claim that one deputy sexually assaulted another. Sheriff Nanos has also been criticized for how he and his department handled the case.
Sheriff’s Detective Ryan Hillborne testified to avoid conflicts of interest the Sheriff’s department often asks other law enforcement agencies to investigate cases where a deputy is accused, but says that does not happen in all cases.
Under questioning by Garcia’s defense attorney, the detective said he found it unusual that Sheriff Nanos wanted to talk directly with the alleged victim instead of leaving that to investigators.
Louis Fidel asked: “Is it fair to say that is not standard protocol for the sheriff to request a meeting with an alleged victim in one of your cases?
Detective: In one of mine? No,”
The Arizona Attorney General’s office looked into how Sheriff Nanos handled the case and concluded it was not handled in a way that broke the law.
