Man, 19, Cleared of Felony Charges in Beach Shooting : Courts: Alejandro Garcia is instead convicted of four misdemeanor counts in August incident.

A Ventura County Superior Court jury Tuesday acquitted a 19-year-old Santa Paula man of the most serious charges he faced in connection with a shooting on a crowded Ventura beach that alarmed the community last summer.

Alejandro Garcia was found not guilty of assault with a firearm and grossly negligent shooting--both felony charges that could have led to a 12-year prison term.

The jury did find Garcia guilty of four misdemeanor offenses--one count each of carrying a loaded weapon and carrying a concealed weapon and two counts of discharging a weapon in city limits.

Garcia had been held at the Ventura County Jail since the Aug. 5 shooting, but Judge Charles W. Campbell immediately released him following the verdicts late Tuesday afternoon.

The shooting occurred shortly after 10 a.m., when Garcia was confronted by members of a Santa Paula gang at San Buenaventura State Beach, according to court testimony. No one was injured as gunfire rang out from both sides, sending about 200 frightened beach-goers scurrying for cover.

The jury essentially ruled that Garcia fired to ward off an attack when he pulled out his .44 magnum, Deputy Public Defender Todd R. Howeth said.

After the verdicts, jurors invited Garcia into the deliberations room for a meeting in which several of them hugged the defendant and the others shook his hand, Howeth said.

“Essentially, they all wished him the best of luck, and they had hopes that he would finish his GED (high-school equivalency) and go to college and put this behind him,” Howeth said.

The verdicts marked another defeat in the case for the district attorney’s office.

Originally, seven people were questioned by police after the shooting, including the three suspects at whom Garcia was accused of firing.

Two of those three suspects were eventually charged, but a judge acquitted a juvenile and a grand jury refused to indict a 20-year-old man, saying there was not enough evidence against him.

Garcia’s 19-year-old cousin, John Sosa, was also charged with being an accessory for trying to hide Garcia’s gun after the shooting. His trial is pending.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kim G. Gibbons expressed disappointment Tuesday in the jury’s verdicts, but maintained the investigation into the shooting was solid.

“I’m disappointed in the outcome of the trial,” he said. “I don’t agree with it.”

He also said that authorities at first believed Garcia was a gang member--which turned out not to be true. He said the jury was apparently influenced by testimony that Garcia had been terrorized by a Santa Paula gang and carried a gun only for protection.

“I do think there was a lot of emotional testimony in this thing from the defense standpoint,” Gibbons said.

But Howeth said it was clear from the beginning that his client was acting in self-defense. He contended that his client aimed for the sand and that no beach-goers were in imminent danger.

“It really reaffirms one’s faith in the jury system,” Howeth said. “The news media reported that this was gang violence, and the truth is he was never a gang member. He was put in a situation where he had to protect himself by carrying a gun.”

Campbell set sentencing for May 6 on the four misdemeanor convictions. Garcia could face up to a year and a half, said Howeth, who will suggest that his client has already served enough time in the case.