Trial date set for Garza case

Trial+date+set+for+Garza+case

The Linfield Review Staff

A Linfield student who was charged with rape last September is scheduled to go on trial in July.

Junior Diego Garza, 20, was charged with rape, sodomy, unlawful sexual penetration, and sexual abuse. He has pleaded not guilty on all counts. At a Feb. 23 pretrial hearing his trial was set for July 7 and is expected to last about two weeks.

Garza, who is out of jail after posting the required 10 percent of a $250,000 bail, appeared at the hearing but did not speak. He was accompanied by his attorney, Andrew Coit of Eugene.

Coit told Judge Cynthia Easterday that the defense was still conducting its investigation.

Easterday set April 30 as the deadline for deadline for discovery and July 1 for a trial readiness appearance.

Garza has been expelled from Linfield and is not allowed on campus, said Mardi Mileham, director of communications for Linfield.

Garza was arrested on Sept. 16 in connection with an alleged sexual assault on Sept. 13 in an on-campus apartment.

The victim contacted the Henderson House and the police on Sept. 15 and described a series of violent events that resulted in injuries.

She called Garza after talking to police, and he told her he was drunk at the time, according to court documents.

The victim sought medical treatment the morning after the alleged rape at the Willamette Medical Center.

Garza’s preliminary hearing was Sept. 24.

Yamhill County Circuit Court Judge Ronald Stone altered Garza’s bail restrictions in September to allow him to move home to Alta Loma, California.