Ricardo García (attorney)

Ricardo García is an American criminal defense attorney and an advocate for criminal justice reform. Garcia is currently the public defender for the Los Angeles County Public Defender's office, the largest public defender's office in the United States. Garcia is Los Angeles County's eleventh Public Defender and LA County's first Latino Public Defender.[1]

Ricardo García
Born
Los Angeles, California
EducationSanta Monica High School
University of California, Santa Cruz (B.A.)
UC Berkeley School of Law (J.D.)
OccupationPublic Defender for Los Angeles County; criminal defense attorney

Garcia has served as an adjunct professor at California Western School of Law and on the faculty at the Shechmeister Death Penalty College at Santa Clara University.[2]

Early life & education

Garcia was born in Los Angeles and spent time in both the Mexico City and Los Angeles areas as a child. Both of his parents were born and raised in Mexico.[3] Garcia graduated from Santa Monica High School.

After high school, Garcia enrolled at the University of California, Santa Cruz, becoming the first person in his family to go to college.[4] He graduated summa cum laude from the University of California Santa Cruz. He went on to attend UC Berkeley School of Law.

San Diego County Public Defender's Office

After law school, he started working in the San Diego County Public Defender's office in 1995.[3] During his time in San Diego, Garcia worked for the alternate public defender's office and the multiple conflicts/major cases section.[3]

Garcia handled several high profile cases while in the San Diego County Public Defender's Office. He represented Nathaniel Gann who was accused of conspiring with his sister to kill her stepfather.[5] Gann was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.[6]

Garcia represented Jorge Rojas Lopez an alleged member of Los Palillos, a group operating within the Tijuana Cartel. In the case, the district attorney was seeking the death penalty. During the guilt phase, Rojas was convicted of several murders and kidnappings while the jury was deadlocked on several other murder counts against Rojas.[7] During the penalty phase, the jury deadlocked on whether to impose the death penalty. After the hung jury, he ultimately pleaded guilty to unresolved counts in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.[8] The trial lasted nearly fifteen months, making it the longest criminal jury trial in the history of San Diego County.[9][10]

American Civil Liberties Union

From 2004 to 2006, Garcia served as the Criminal Justice Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, where he was responsible for monitoring the consent decree with the Los Angeles Police Department as well as conditions within the L.A. County jails.[2]

Los Angeles County Public Defender

In 2018, Garcia was selected by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to be the Public Defender for Los Angeles County.[11]

Since his appointment, Garcia has successfully advocated for the board of supervisors to end the use of pepper spray on kids in juvenile halls and probation camps.[12][13]

When California Governor Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on the death penalty, Garcia supported the move. He wrote: “The governor’s decision brings California closer to ending the death penalty, a deeply flawed and racially biased system that fails to improve public safety.”[14]

Awards
  • Trial Lawyer of the Year by the San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association (2015)[2]
  • Dale Melvin Ray Memorial Award for Excellence in the Representation of the Indigent by San Diego County’s Department of the Alternate Public Defender[2]
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References
  1. "Ricardo García Sworn in as LA County's First Latino Public Defender". SCVNews.com. 2018-10-05. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  2. "Supes Name Ricardo Garcia New LA County Public Defender". SCVNews.com. 2018-08-15. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  3. Little field, Dana. "Longtime San Diego defense lawyer to become Los Angeles County public defender". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  4. McNulty, Jennifer. "LA County's new public defender is guided by 'presumption of innocence'". UC Santa Cruz News. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  5. "AM 760 KFMB - Talk Radio Station - San Diego, CA - Prosecutor Says Siblings Planned Stepfather's Murder". www.760kfmb.com. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  6. Wayl, Michelle; Krueger, Paul. "Siblings Learn Fate for Killing Stepfather". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  7. Service, City News. "Prosecutors To Retry Death Penalty Phase Against 'Los Palillos' Gang Members". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  8. "'Los Palillos' Boss Gets Nine Life Terms For Killings, Kidnappings In San Diego". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  9. "2nd drug gang leader gets 12 life terms". fox5sandiego.com. 2014-10-15. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  10. "Kidnap gang's co-leader gets 9 life terms". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  11. Agrawal, Nina. "L.A. County hasn't had a public defender in 2 years. It just appointed one". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  12. "Should LA County Keep Using Pepper Spray On Its Kids? A New Report From LA County Inspector General Paints A Very Alarming Picture |". Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  13. Stiles, Matt. "L.A. supervisors ban pepper spray in juvenile detention halls after reports of abuse". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  14. "Mixed Reaction To Gov. Newsom's Death Penalty Executive Order". 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
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