People v. Garcia

Active case review on behalf of an individual serving life without the possibility of parole for a 2008 murder in Santa Clara County. The conviction rests entirely on the testimony of a single accomplice witness whose account has been forensically disproven by the prosecution's own phone and computer records. There is no physical evidence connecting Mr. Garcia to the crime.

MOJO is conducting a comprehensive review of the case record, including over 18,000 discovery files spanning police reports, witness interviews, forensic analyses, trial transcripts, and post-conviction filings. The review has identified substantial evidence, much of it from the prosecution's own discovery file, that the murder was a drug debt collection, not the love-triangle killing presented to the jury. 

The review has also uncovered significant issues involving fabricated trial exhibits, suppressed exculpatory evidence, undisclosed law-enforcement misconduct, and a potentially invalid special-circumstance allegation underlying the LWOP sentence.

Active post-conviction challenge on behalf of an individual serving 51 years to life for a 2011 first-degree murder conviction in San Bernardino County. The physical evidence in the case, including GSR patterns, surveillance footage, and the complete absence of any direct evidence linking Mr. Saldaña to the alleged conspiracy, raises substantial questions regarding guilt and indicates greater involvement by a co-defendant.

The case reveals systemic failures across trial counsel, the prosecution, CDCR, and the courts in distinguishing proximity from participation. Mr. Saldaña was convicted not on the strength of the evidence against him, but on the strength of the evidence against his co-defendants.

The post-conviction challenge incorporates newly developed forensic analysis, intervening legal authority including People v. Ware (2022), ineffective assistance of counsel claims, and due process concerns arising from the destruction and release of critical trial exhibits while post-conviction proceedings were pending.

Capital case resulting in the execution of Anthony Castillo Sanchez for the 1996 homicide of Juli Busken. The conviction and subsequent post-conviction proceedings have been the subject of sustained legal and factual dispute, including issues related to forensic evidence, investigative reliability, and the scope of post-conviction review in capital cases.

The case raises enduring questions about the integrity of capital prosecutions, the adequacy of defense investigation, and the limits of judicial review in cases where the penalty is final and irreversible.

At the center of the case are unresolved questions about how key evidence was collected, interpreted, and presented, and whether those issues were fully examined in post-conviction proceedings. With the sentence carried out, those questions remain part of a fixed and contested record.

MOJO’s review examines the evidentiary record, post-conviction filings, and allegations of systemic failure across law enforcement and prosecutorial decision-making processes.