Policeman Acquitted of Drunk Driving

The San Diego Police officer who killed Tommie DuBose during a controversial drug raid last year was acquitted Friday of drunk driving.

Carlos Garcia, 33, was found not guilty after a San Diego Municipal Court jury deliberated almost two days.

Garcia shot DuBose, 56, five times after police burst into DuBose’s home looking for drugs March 12, 1988. DuBose’s son, Charles, had been arrested the night before for making a cocaine sale, but no drugs were found in the DuBose house.

The district attorney’s office concluded that the shooting was legally justified but criticized some aspects of the raid.

Eight days after the DuBose shooting, Garcia’s car crashed into a center divider on Interstate 805. A test showed Garcia’s alcohol level to be twice the level necessary for a drunk-driving conviction, officials said.

However, jurors said they were not convinced that Garcia was the actual driver.

Garcia did not testify. Another San Diego police officer, John Rivera, 36, testified that he was in the car with Garcia, but, since he also was drunk, he said he did not know who the driver was, said Garcia’s attorney, Dan Krinsky.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Wes Schermann argued that Garcia’s blood type and hair were embedded in the windshield over the driver’s seat. Since the 1985 Corvette was Garcia’s car, the prosecutor argued that it was logical that Garcia was driving, not Rivera.

Jurors deadlocked on a second count of drunk driving, but foreman Ruth Jones said in court that they leaned 8-4 for acquittal.

Garcia is still employed as a San Diego police officer, but is on disability leave stemming from an accident last summer in Mexico in which he received severe head injuries in a bike race.

Garcia had been in a coma but later recovered. The trial was delayed until he was able to stand trial.

The Police Officer’s Assn. hired Krinsky to represent Garcia.