Inez Garcia
Encyclopedia
Inez Garcia is a Hispanic
woman who became a cause célèbre
of the feminist
movement when she was charged with the 1974 murder
of a man who had rape
d her.
and raised in Spanish Harlem
. Her ethnic heritage is mixed Puerto Rican
and Cuba
n. She married the Cuban exile
and Anti-Castro
activist Juan Garcia Cardenas, and the two of them had a son in 1963. Cardenas was imprisoned in Soledad, California
, after being convicted of involvement in a political bombing in Los Angeles claimed by Poder Cubano. In 1971 Garcia moved to Soledad to be nearer to her husband. She worked in the lettuce fields and supplemented her income with welfare. She earned a reputation in the small, mostly Chicano
community as a devout and chaste Catholic. She shared an apartment with Fred Medrano, a Texan
who was involved in the illegal drug trade
.
. Louie Castillo and Miguel Jimenez, Soledad locals and acquaintances of Medrano, arrived in a state of inebriation to purchase heroin from Medrano. They began harassing Garcia and her friends, who left Garcia and the others at the apartment. Soon an argument arose between Medrano and Castillo, who was envious of Medrano's status as the primary drug connection in Soledad and was resentful that an "outsider" had become so successful. The argument became physical, and Medrano was winning the fight (Castillo was a wiry seventeen year old) until the 300-pound Jimenez intervened, beating Medrano and threatening him with a knife. Jimenez and Castillo took Garcia to an alley behind the building where Jimenez restrained and Castillo raped her, according to Garcia's testimony, "to show me what a hometown boy was." The two men left the scene for a neighbor's house. Shortly after arriving, they (or someone else) called the Garcia-Medrano residence, laughing, taunting, and threatening Garcia's life if she did not leave town. Garcia armed herself with her son's .22 rifle and she and Medrano drove the six blocks to the residence where Castillo and Jimenez were located. Accounts vary as to precisely what occurred next, but by most of them, Jimenez again brandished his knife and Garcia shot him. Castillo, meanwhile, escaped into a nearby park. Medrano and Garcia continued to the home of the two friends that had visited her earlier, and when police
arrived, she surrendered to them without incident.
, Huey P. Newton
, and Bobby Seale
. At the same time, news of the case reached the Bay Area
, where the women's rights
and Chicano movements
were at their apex. Garcia began speaking to women's groups in the area, and the Inez Garcia Defense Committee raised money for the defense and publicized the case, hoping to put gender inequalities in the criminal justice system, rather than Garcia herself, on trial. Through her contact with feminist groups, Garcia transformed from the timid, submissive victim who was too ashamed to even admit what had happened to her into an outspoken critic of patriarchy, even when she saw it in her own judge, who she accused of prejudice and sexism. During the trial, Garry had argued that Garcia had acted with diminished capacity. He based this argument on expert psychological testimony that rape causes mental trauma and Garcia's own history of mental instability. The defense disappointed feminists who preferred to see Garcia as a symbol of strength and resistance to male domination. It also failed to win the sympathy of the jury. Garcia was convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced, and spent two years in the California Institution for Women
before her appeal was heard.
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
woman who became a cause célèbre
Cause célèbre
A is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases. It is a French phrase in common English use...
of the feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
movement when she was charged with the 1974 murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of a man who had rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d her.
Background
Garcia was born in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and raised in Spanish Harlem
Spanish Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem and El Barrio, is a section of Harlem in the northeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. East Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York City. It includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem, in which...
. Her ethnic heritage is mixed Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n. She married the Cuban exile
Cuban exile
The term "Cuban exile" refers to the many Cubans who have sought alternative political or economic conditions outside the island, dating back to the Ten Years' War and the struggle for Cuban independence during the 19th century...
and Anti-Castro
Opposition to Fidel Castro
The Cuban dissident movement is a political movement in Cuba whose aim is "to replace the current regime with a more democratic form of government". According to Human Rights Watch, the Cuban government represses nearly all forms of political dissent....
activist Juan Garcia Cardenas, and the two of them had a son in 1963. Cardenas was imprisoned in Soledad, California
Soledad, California
Soledad, meaning "solitude" and "loneliness" in Spanish, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. Soledad is located southeast of Salinas, at an elevation of 190 feet...
, after being convicted of involvement in a political bombing in Los Angeles claimed by Poder Cubano. In 1971 Garcia moved to Soledad to be nearer to her husband. She worked in the lettuce fields and supplemented her income with welfare. She earned a reputation in the small, mostly Chicano
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
community as a devout and chaste Catholic. She shared an apartment with Fred Medrano, a Texan
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
who was involved in the illegal drug trade
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
.
The Rape and Murder
On March 17, 1974, Garcia was visiting with some friends in her apartment. Medrano also had a guest, with whom he was smoking marijuanaCannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
. Louie Castillo and Miguel Jimenez, Soledad locals and acquaintances of Medrano, arrived in a state of inebriation to purchase heroin from Medrano. They began harassing Garcia and her friends, who left Garcia and the others at the apartment. Soon an argument arose between Medrano and Castillo, who was envious of Medrano's status as the primary drug connection in Soledad and was resentful that an "outsider" had become so successful. The argument became physical, and Medrano was winning the fight (Castillo was a wiry seventeen year old) until the 300-pound Jimenez intervened, beating Medrano and threatening him with a knife. Jimenez and Castillo took Garcia to an alley behind the building where Jimenez restrained and Castillo raped her, according to Garcia's testimony, "to show me what a hometown boy was." The two men left the scene for a neighbor's house. Shortly after arriving, they (or someone else) called the Garcia-Medrano residence, laughing, taunting, and threatening Garcia's life if she did not leave town. Garcia armed herself with her son's .22 rifle and she and Medrano drove the six blocks to the residence where Castillo and Jimenez were located. Accounts vary as to precisely what occurred next, but by most of them, Jimenez again brandished his knife and Garcia shot him. Castillo, meanwhile, escaped into a nearby park. Medrano and Garcia continued to the home of the two friends that had visited her earlier, and when police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
arrived, she surrendered to them without incident.
The Investigation
While being interrogated, Garcia claimed that the two men had merely attempted to rape her. Her Catholic sensibilities and sense of shame prevented her from revealing the whole truth. At the jail, she was tested for drugs and alcohol but not for signs of rape. Castillo was never charged with any crime.The Trial
When Cardenas learned of his wife's predicament, he recommended that she retain Charles Garry, a criminal attorney who had gained a reputation in Soledad State Penitentiary as the ardent defender of George JacksonGeorge Jackson (Black Panther)
George Lester Jackson was an American convict who became a left-wing activist, Marxist, author, a member of the Black Panther Party, and co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang...
, Huey P. Newton
Huey P. Newton
Huey Percy Newton was an American political and urban activist who, along with Bobby Seale, co-founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.-Early life:...
, and Bobby Seale
Bobby Seale
Robert George "Bobby" Seale , is an activist. He is known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with Huey Newton.-Early life:...
. At the same time, news of the case reached the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, where the women's rights
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and Chicano movements
Chicano Movement
The Chicano Movement of the 1960s, also called the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, also known as El Movimiento, is an extension of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement which began in the 1940s with the stated goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment.-Origins:The Chicano Movement...
were at their apex. Garcia began speaking to women's groups in the area, and the Inez Garcia Defense Committee raised money for the defense and publicized the case, hoping to put gender inequalities in the criminal justice system, rather than Garcia herself, on trial. Through her contact with feminist groups, Garcia transformed from the timid, submissive victim who was too ashamed to even admit what had happened to her into an outspoken critic of patriarchy, even when she saw it in her own judge, who she accused of prejudice and sexism. During the trial, Garry had argued that Garcia had acted with diminished capacity. He based this argument on expert psychological testimony that rape causes mental trauma and Garcia's own history of mental instability. The defense disappointed feminists who preferred to see Garcia as a symbol of strength and resistance to male domination. It also failed to win the sympathy of the jury. Garcia was convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced, and spent two years in the California Institution for Women
California Institution for Women
California Institution for Women is a female-only state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California.-Facilities:...
before her appeal was heard.