DAILY REPUBLIC
VALLEJO — Deputy District Attorney George Williamson began laying his case out for jurors in the trial of the ex-con accused of gunning down Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia.
Opening statements
Before the first witness took the stand, both lawyers told jurors very different versions of what they believe happened Sept. 1, 2008.
John Mendenhall, defense attorney for accused killer, Henry D. Williams, was quick to spell out his defense strategy.
"Gene Combs shot Matt Garcia," were the first words out of Mendenhall's mouth Wednesday morning.
Mendenhall went on to tell jurors it was Combs who had a beef with a drug dealer who Combs had visited on Silverado Drive in Cordelia shortly before Garcia was shot and killed after driving up to a nearby house.
"Henry Williams didn't have any problems with Ryan Estes (the alleged dealer)," Mendenhall said before telling jurors Williams and Estes had been cordially drinking beer together a few hours before the shooting.
After the shooting, Combs boasted to a friend of having "already popped me one mother- (expletive)," according to Mendenhall. Combs had given Estes $50 for methamphetamine earlier in the day, according to Mendenhall.
Mendenhall also emphasized the sole eyewitness description police got of the shooter came from Jennifer Tarbell, the woman whose home Garcia was visiting that night. She got a two second look at the shooter and described him as an Hispanic or light-skinned black male. Williams is dark-skinned. Combs has a much lighter complexion.
Combs' trial on a murder charge is set to begin later this month.
Williamson told jurors it was Williams who was toting the gun before and after the shooting and who told a neighbor after Garcia's killing that "(He) emptied a clip on a guy tonight."
Williamson emphasized the expected testimony of Williams' girlfriend, Nicole Stewart, who testified at the defendants' probable cause hearing that Williams was the shooter.
"It was a senseless killing over a bad dope deal," Williamson told jurors, describing Garcia as having been "in the wrong place, at the wrong time and the wrong guy."
Police believe Garcia's death was a case of mistaken identity.
The prosecution case begins
Williamson's first witness was Mike Beatty, the first Fairfield police officer to arrive at the shooting scene. Williamson said he expects to call 40 to 45 witnesses during the trial, which is expected to take two weeks.
Tarbell followed Beatty and described Garcia's phone calls and texting before agreeing to meet with her on his way home from a party.
She described Garcia's big smile, his hug and their laughter before she heard what she thought was firecrackers coming from up the street.
Tarbell saw the muzzle flash from a gun and ran toward her house.
"I called out for Matt. I saw him on the ground and ran over. I rolled him over and hoped and prayed it wasn't true," Tarbell testified.
Tarbell pointed to Williams at the defense table, saying he had the height and build of the man she had seen standing outside a car parked down the street that night.
Mendenhall tried countering Tarbell's testimony by repeatedly trying to get her to repeat the description she gave police the night of the shooting and the description she gave a police sketch artist a few days later.
Most of Williamson's case on the first day of testimony focused on the crime scene investigation and the eight shell casings found in the street in the aftermath of the shooting.
Mendenhall had little to dispute with the sparse crime scene evidence.
Williamson is scheduled to continue his case against Williams this morning.
Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net.
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