TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — It will be Friday before a jury starts deliberating in the case of a former Pima County Sheriff’s Sergeant charged with sexually assaulting a fellow deputy.
Lawyers final statements ran late Thursday in the trial of Ricky Garcia. If jurors find Ricky Garcia guilty he could face up to 21 years in prison for each of the two charges.
Prosecutors say Ricky Garcia used his home for a Christmas party for his fellow deputies. And that one of those deputies forced his way into a locked bedroom and found Garcia having sex with a female deputy who was far too drunk to say no.
Prosecutors built a lot of their case from the testimony of a Deputy named Chris Aquino. He says he and Garcia put the woman in a spare bedroom because she was so drunk— then three times found Garcia with her with the woman more undressed---- and less conscious each time. Aquino says he warned Garcia three times that the woman was too drunk to consent to sex.
The woman says Garcia called her the following day and told her they had sex—but she says she did not remember anything. The prosecution says that’s a sign of how she was far too drunk to consent.
Defense attorney Louie Fidel told jurors the case was poorly investigated and depends on testimony of witnesses who had all been drinking heavily. He also says the DNA evidence is not as conclusive as the state says it is.
