Alleged Rapist Charged in Court Attack

The defendant in a kidnap-rape case, already accused of enslaving two immigrant women in a camper, was charged Wednesday with attempted murder, attempted escape and a list of other crimes after allegedly stabbing a bailiff in a Municipal Court lockup, authorities said.

Paul Garcia, 38, allegedly drew a crude knife on Deputy Marshal Richard Duran as Duran prepared to usher Garcia into court for the second day of a preliminary hearing Tuesday. Garcia and a second bailiff were injured in a struggle as deputies wrestled Garcia to the floor.

Garcia’s two female co-defendants in the kidnap-rape case, who also were inside the lockup, allegedly joined in the escape attempt by taking away the bailiff’s radio as he struggled with Garcia, Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Lenhart said. The alleged role of the women had not been initially reported.

Lenhart, who said Garcia had a second knife during the assault, filed the following charges against the defendant: premeditated attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, aggravated mayhem, attempted escape, possession of a weapon in a jail and possession of a dirk (a long, straight dagger).

The mayhem and attempted murder charges carry a potential life sentence, Lenhart said.

The two women, Yolanda Garcia and Margarita Ruvalcaba, will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon and attempted escape, he said. While Yolanda Garcia allegedly took Duran’s radio, Ruvalcaba attempted to take one of Garcia’s knives, he said.

Duran was quoted in an investigator’s report as describing the attack: “I kept holding (Paul Garcia) against the wall while he was slashing my face with the knife. (The women) tried to subdue me so I kept kicking them until help arrived.”

Meanwhile, Wednesday’s hearing for Garcia and the two women was postponed until July 23, apparently to give Garcia’s injuries time to heal. The hearing is to determine whether the three will stand trial on 113 counts, including rape, kidnap and enslavement, stemming from the alleged imprisonment of two immigrant women in a camper in 1988 and 1989.

Garcia, clad in hospital clothes, shackled and handcuffed, walked with hesitation as he was led barefoot into court Wednesday. His eyes were swollen and his face badly bruised. He appeared to be in pain and unable to move his left arm. He sat tentatively on the edge of his chair and had to be helped up.

The two women co-defendants also were handcuffed, hands behind their backs, and their feet chained, as they were brought into the courtroom. Their mouths trembled and they appeared to be crying.

In contrast to the previous day, six bailiffs were stationed about the courtroom during the short proceedings.

After defense attorneys met with their clients, Judge Glenette Blackwell agreed to postpone the hearing until next month “due to certain medical necessities.”

“He (Garcia) was not in the emotional condition to go on with the hearing,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrew J. McMullen, who is prosecuting the case, told reporters later.

Acting on a prosecution request, Blackwell also ordered Garcia’s aunt, Hermina Hernandez, to stay away from the witnesses in the case and to refrain from any written, verbal or physical contact with them. Hernandez said she would comply.

McMullen said that after Tuesday’s scuffle in the court lockup, Hernandez had walked toward and “tried to grab” one of Garcia’s alleged victims, a Salvadoran woman who has testified that she was repeatedly raped, beaten and given electrical shocks to her legs and neck.

A police investigation into Tuesday’s stabbing centers on how Garcia came to possess the two knives allegedly used to attack Duran.

“I don’t know whether we will ever know how (Garcia) obtained the weapon and was able to bring it into the building,” Marshal’s spokesman Lt. Gale Holbrook said. “We will look closely to determine how this occurred. It will take a little while.”

Holbrook said he did not believe Garcia had received any visitors while in jail.

Duran, the wounded bailiff, underwent surgery for cuts to his face and was expected to be released soon from County-USC Medical Center, Marshal’s Capt. Morris Seidner said Wednesday.