Accuser Held After Counts Against Brothers Dropped

An Orange County judge dismissed residential robbery and burglary charges against two Santa Ana brothers Friday and ordered the arrest of their sole accuser and alleged victim on a contempt-of-court charge.

Superior Court Judge William W. Thomson also directed the district attorney’s office to file a perjury charge against Anna Maria Garcia, the alleged victim, after she admitted she had fabricated the charges.

Made Up Allegations

Thomson took the action after Deputy Dist. Atty. Cynthia Benton disclosed that Garcia, after testifying Thursday, had admitted to authorities that she made up the allegations against David and Daniel Ruiz.

Defense attorney Gary Proctor, attorney for Daniel Ruiz, 23, attempted to prove through his questioning of Garcia that she had fabricated the story to get back at the Ruiz brothers for duping her husband out of $100.

Under questioning by defense lawyers, Garcia was caught in a number of contradictions, prompting Benton to confront the prime witness about the truthfulness of her testimony after court recessed Thursday.

“You do expect people to change things a little bit, but nothing substantial,” Benton said. “I’ve never had anyone lie to me before.”

Had it not been for Garcia’s recantation, “there was an excellent chance those two boys could have faced eight years in prison,” Proctor said.

A Lighter Sentence

The Ruiz brothers, who spent five months in jail awaiting trial, could have been sentenced at most to six months in jail had they been charged and convicted of cheating Garcia’s husband. They most likely would have received only a fine for a petty theft conviction, Proctor said.

Because the brothers were not charged at the outset with petty theft, the constitutional right against being tried twice for the same criminal action bars any further prosecution, according to Patrick D. McNeal of Santa Ana, attorney for David Ruiz, 30.

Proctor and McNeal said they were trying to prove that the Ruiz brothers had offered on Nov. 13, 1984, to sell Garcia’s husband, Jesus, two pistols for $100, but that they were really plastic toy guns that were put in a bag along with a rock to provide weight to the package.

After the Ruiz brothers left, Proctor said, Jesus discovered the scam and, before returning to Mexico, persuaded his wife to call police with a made-up story about a robbery to get even. The lawyer said the Garcias were undocumented Mexican nationals.

Through a preliminary examination and several interviews with investigators and Benton, the prosecutor said, Anna Maria Garcia had maintained that three men, two carrying guns and one a rock, entered the Garcias’ Santa Ana home and demanded $100. After getting the money, they dropped the rock and what turned out to be toy guns and left, Benton said.

Garcia was arrested on the contempt charge and placed in the Orange County Jail Friday on $50,000 bond, Deputy Marshal Mark Abell, a court bailiff, said.

Benton said the prosecutor’s office has not decided whether to file a perjury charge.