VENTURA COUNTY ROUNDUP : Ventura : Deliberations Begin in Strangling Case

A Ventura County jury began deliberations Tuesday in the Superior Court trial of Jose “Joe” Garcia, a transient accused of strangling his girlfriend on the steps of a Ventura elementary school two years ago.

In closing arguments, Deputy Public Defender Christina Brilestold jurors that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, the legal standard necessary to convict her client of murder.

She said Garcia, 53, was not the person who strangled Marsha Lane on Feb. 17, 1997. She acknowledged that Garcia was with Lane at the school that night, but said he walked away from an argument and fell asleep at a friend’s house.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Bamieh urged the jury to find Garcia guilty of killing Lane, a 41-year-old homeless woman, saying evidence presented during a weeklong trial clearly points to him as the attacker.

“The only reasonable interpretation of the evidence is that the defendant is the killer,” Bamieh said.

During Garcia’s trial, several ex-girlfriends testified that he choked and battered them during past relationships.

One woman told jurors that her two-year romance with Garcia was mostly abusive, and she recalled one incident in which she said he grabbed her by the throat and squeezed until she couldn’t speak. Another woman testified that Garcia beat her while she was pregnant.

Bamieh cited those attacks during his summation, telling the jury that Garcia choked Lane just like he choked the other women--only with a deadly outcome.

“That is what he does--he chokes women,” Bamieh argued. “Let it stop with Marsha.”

Lane’s body was found Feb. 18, 1997, in a hallway at Lincoln School. She had been strangled and had other bruises, possibly from a struggle, on her body.

Garcia faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.