Governor Grants Clemency in 2009 Gang Killing
On April 18, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom accepted a plea for clemency and commuted the sentence of Richard Miguel Garcia, age 39, who participated in the killing of an 18-year-old male in 2009.
On the evening of August 28, 2009, Garcia and three other gang members went hunting for rival gang members by arming themselves with a gun and driving a car looking for rivals. The victim wore a blue shirt and was walking on the side of the road near Orosi with a friend. Garcia and his friends spotted the victim dressed in blue and stopped the car. Garcia’s co-defendant exited the vehicle and fired several shots, killing the victim and wounding the leg of the second victim.
Garcia admitted to law enforcement that he knew the co-defendant had a gun and that the gun was for the purpose of looking for opposing gang members. At trial in 2011, a Tulare County jury found Garcia guilty of murder in the second-degree and conspiracy, along with the special allegations of principal use of a firearm in a gang case causing great bodily injury, and the special allegation that the crimes were committed for the benefit a criminal street gang.
Garcia was sentenced to 50 years-to-life in prison. On appeal, Garcia’s sentence was reduced to 40 years-to-life for an instructional error given at trial regarding the conspiracy charge. Garcia is currently serving his life sentence at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran.
Since his conviction, Garcia has filed three petitions for re-sentencing. In each instance, a Tulare County judge denied his petition. The governor took no action when Garcia first filed for clemency in 2023.
“With the swipe of a pen, the governor voided the decision of the jury and the multiple decisions of Tulare County judges, jurists who presided where the crime took place, heard witness testimony, and understood the impact to the community,” said District Attorney Tim Ward. “The defendant is only one third of the way into a 40 year-to-life sentence for a cold-blooded violent crime. By his own admission, he and his co-defendants went looking to inflict violence that evening in 2009. They were literally hunting other human beings. This office will be present and argue against this defendant’s release at any future parole hearing.”
Garcia is immediately eligible for a parole hearing and, if found suitable, released from prison. The public is encouraged to contact the California Board of Parole Hearings at https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/bph/ to address the defendant’s potential release.
Media inquiries can be directed to the Office of the District Attorney, County of Tulare Communications Director Stuart Anderson (559) 636-5494