Cocaine in Backpack : Mother Faces Trial Over Drugs Girl Took to School

A 39-year-old Topanga Canyon woman accused of placing a golf ball-sized chunk of cocaine in her 7-year-old daughter’s backpack in June was ordered Monday to stand trial on charges of possession of cocaine for sale.

“It appears to this court that any amount of cocaine . . . is sufficient to endanger the life of a child or an adult,” said Van Nuys Municipal Court Judge Robert H. Wallerstein. He ordered Maria Christina Torres to stand trial on an additional count of felony child endangering.

Torres’s daughter, Angelina, who was subpoenaed as a prosecution witness, testified that she found a large lump of cocaine in her backpack while at Canoga Park Lutheran School. She said she put it in her pocket. Later, it fell out when she went to get a pencil, the girl testified.

Angelina and a 7-year-old classmate, Sarah, testified that they tasted the white powder, but immediately spat it out because it was “yucky.”

Torres, who is free on $25,000 bail, was ordered by Wallerstein to report to Van Nuys Superior Court for arraignment on Sept. 6. Torres, a Colombian national, was able to secure $100,000 bail within a few hours of her June 13 arrest by Los Angeles police. A court commissioner later lowered the bail over the objections of Deputy Dist. Atty. Tracy J. Watson.

Torres’ lawyer, Richard A. Walton, argued that there is no proof that his client intended to sell the cocaine and that there is insufficient evidence to support a child endangering charge.

In addition, police seized only half a gram of cocaine and there is no proof it was part of the golf ball-sized chunk of cocaine found in the child’s backpack, Walton said.

Police have said Torres went to school and retrieved the larger cocaine chunk, discarding it before they were called. However, school administrators found the smaller amount of the drug, which had been discarded on the playground by a student.

Torres also faces a charge of probation violation in an earlier federal case involving failure to report currency.

If convicted of the cocaine charges, Torres could receive a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Diamond.