Evidence collection examined in 6th day of Antolin Garcia-Torres' retrial

Teenager Sierra Lamar in 2012 KTVU South Bay reporter Jesse Gary has our story tonight from the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice. Evidence, the weather elements, and the procedures for securing a scene remain front and center as the retrial of Antolin Garcia-Torres marked its sixth day. Prosecution witness Sergeant Brian Randall took the stand Tuesday afternoon. The 27-year Santa Clara County Sheriff's Deputy described finding Sierra's cell phone in a muddy field near Scheller Avenue and Santa Teresa Boulevard on March 17, 2012. One day into the massive missing person search, there was rain on the face of the phone. I had on latex gloves and picked it up with just my thumb and index finger as to not touch too much of it and placed it in a manila envelope. Prosecutor O'Brien Kenny asked, were you purposely trying to touch as little as possible? Randall, yes, I closed the envelope with a metal clasp, then placed it in the evidence kit in the back of my vehicle. The DA wants to demonstrate that Sierra Lamar was kidnapped. By what was left behind, her cell phone, her personal belongings, no 15-year-old would do that voluntarily. Garcia-Torres was convicted in 2017 of kidnapping Sierra as she walked to a school bus stop near her Morgan Hill home and then killing her. Her body has never been found, and his conviction was later overturned by California Appellate Court. Earlier Tuesday, search-and-rescue volunteer Albert Wackerman returned to the stand for further cross-examination by defense attorney Al Lopez. Wackerman found the black bag containing Sierra's clothing near a shed, hidden behind a large cactus bush, and alerted a sheriff's deputy for collection. Lopez, was the deputy wearing gloves? Wackerman, yes, surgical gloves. We carry them in our pant pockets. Lopez, did you see him change his gloves while he was going through the bag? Wackerman, I don't remember. Experts say the defense line of questioning is designed to sow doubt in the mind of jurors that maybe... Evidence was contaminated with Garcia-Torres' DNA. The trial pauses for Veterans Day and for the rest of the week and resumes Monday. Outside the Hall of Justice in San Jose, Jesse Gary, KTVU Fox 2 News.