Sister of victim testifies in 2016 Clovis kidnapping trial

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The victim in an alleged 2016 kidnapping and her sister took the stand Monday as the trial against Sandra Garcia and her son, Mark Anthony Roque, extends into another week.

Garcia and Roque both sat in court as the prosecution called witnesses in the trial against them.

The two stand accused of kidnapping the thirteen-year-old daughter of Garcia's then-boyfriend.

The victim, who Action News cannot name or show her face, was briefly brought back to the stand to walk the courtroom through gruesome details of how she says she was sexually assaulted with a stick and left tied to a tree in February 2016.

However, much of the testimony Monday morning focused on cell phones, starting with when Garcia's phone was taken as evidence.

"She was not happy, raising her voice, demanding her phone back, and ultimately she ended up storming out of the front doors of the lobby," said Lt. Jeff Kertson, Fresno County Sheriff's Office.

A digital forensic expert spoke directly to the jury at times to explain what investigators do when they pull data from a phone.

"So we're investigating the text messages or phone numbers a person calls, and we go through and look for that data or evidence and then once we find that evidence we're looking for, we can extract it to a report," said Kenneth Kalar, Fresno County Sheriff's Office.

Then, the victim's younger sister, who can also not be named or shown, was asked to testify about the morning of the crime.

She said her father was out of town for work that morning, and she remembers her sister being unable to find her cell phone before leaving for school.

"I felt like the home dynamic got worse when he was gone," said the victim's sister. "I think she was stressed because she was going to school, and she couldn't find her phone."

She said just weeks prior, her father decided to break up with Garcia because of the conflict between her and his daughters.

"Towards the end of 2015, he felt like we weren't really happy in the relationship they were having, so that's why it ended," said the victim's sister.

"Were you unhappy with the relationship they were having at the end of 2015," said Fresno County District Attorney Adam Christopherson.

"Yes," said the victim's sister.

Prosecutors say Garcia orchestrated the kidnapping after Johan Gidstedt evicted her from his Clovis home.

Garcia and Roque each face life in prison for crimes related to the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault.

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