Imprisoned former Fresno police officer wins appeal of child molestation conviction
A former Fresno police officer who was sent to prison for a crime he said he didn’t commit is about to be a free man.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal this week reversed the conviction of Rex Garcia, who was in the middle of serving a six-year sentence after being convicted of child molestation three years ago.
His attorney Amanda Moran called him Thursday morning to share the news.
“He could barely speak, he was so emotional,” Moran said. “He wanted to thank everyone for believing in him and fighting for him.”
The 76-year-old Garcia, was found guilty on December 13, 2017 of continual sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14.
He was accused of sneaking into the child’s bedroom at night and touching her inappropriately. The alleged contact happened from 2009 until 2015.
Garcia, who worked 10 years as a Fresno police officer and nearly 19 years as a Fresno County sheriff’s deputy and bailiff, denied wrongdoing.
Friends and family believed him and defense attorney Eric Schweitzer began the appeal process. Moran was his appellate counsel.
On Thursday, a panel of three judges issued its 24-page decision, throwing out the judgment against Garcia due to “ineffective assistance of counsel.”
The judges took issue with defense attorney Antonio Alvarez’s failure to object to expert testimony that proved “highly prejudicial and suggestive of guilt.”
Alvarez acknowledged his misjudgment Thursday, saying “I own up to my error and I am glad Rex gets another shot.”
What happened during trial
During Garcia’s trial, prosecutor Amy Freeman used expert witness David Love, a marriage and family therapist, to help the jury understand why some victims of sexual abuse have difficulty telling their story.
He is considered an expert in the theory of Child Abuse Accommodation Syndrome that explores the credibility of child sex abuse victims.
But Moran and Schweitzer said Love’s testimony went beyond helping the jury understand sex abuse victims — it was an indictment of Garcia.
“He just went on and on and nobody stopped him during his testimony,” Moran said. “He gave opinions and analogies that were nearly identical to this case. At one point he turned to the jurors and pleaded with them to please believe her (the alleged victim).
Schweitzer called Love’s testimony “junk science.”
“These so called experts in this dubious syndrome are nothing but crutches for crippled prosecutions that should never go to trial in the first place,“ Schweitzer said. “Prosecutors have a basic duty to correct any misleading testimony and what happened here was far beyond misleading.
Fresno County District Attorney spokesman Jerry Stanley said the DA’s office is assessing the appeal court’s opinion before deciding what it’s next steps will be.
Moran said the next step is to try and get Garcia released from custody as soon as possible. He is being housed at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.
Garcia is due back in court on Dec. 17 in Judge Jonathan Conklin’s courtroom for a case status hearing. At that time, Garcia should know if his case is over or if the district attorney’s office will attempt to prosecute him again, Moran said.
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
