Would-Be Client Testifies About Lawyer's Alleged Cocaine-Fueled Sex Attack
When an unidentified woman went to Al Garcia’s law office in downtown Minneapolis one August evening in 2008, she expected to sign a retainer agreement, she says.
But instead she became the target of a cocaine-fueled sex-attack by the 50-year-old practitioner, the woman, who is now 30, testified today at Garcia’s Hennepin County District Court trial on a third-degree criminal sexual assault charge.
Openly using cocaine and telling her that no one could hear her, she says, Garcia forced her into sex acts, reports the Star Tribune.
The judge has agreed to permit three other witnesses to testify that, according to prosecutors, Garcia tried to trade sex for legal work, the newspaper states.
Attorney Paul Edlund represents Garcia, who pleaded not guilty. He told jurors that Garcia’s meeting with the woman “turned sexual,” said the woman had no visible injuries and noted that she stopped for cigarettes before going to the hospital.
As discussed in another Star Tribune post, Garcia is also a defendant in a federal case that accuses him of distributing cocaine and methamphetamine. Additionally, he is facing potential attorney discipline.
His law license has been suspended pending the resolution of these cases.
