Felix Garcia Should Be Granted A Full Pardon 071714
Felix Garcia Should Be Granted A Full Pardon 071714
Felix Garcia Should Be Granted A Full Pardon 071714
Rick Scott
Office ofCabinet Affairs
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Dear [Attorney General Pam Bondi] [CFO Jeff Atwater] [Commissioner Adam Putnam]
I am writing to ask you to recommend to Governor Rick Scott that Felix Garcia be granted
Clemency. New evidence has made it clear that Mr. Garcia, a deaf man framed for murder, has
been unjustly held in prison formore thanthree decades. Felixs story of unjust imprisonment by
Florida authorities has been put into the national spotlight by James Ridgeway, one of
Americas premier investigative journalists, in an article for Mother Jones. It is time for you to
act on this new evidence.
In 2006, Frank Garcia, Felix's brother, finally confessed in court that Felix had nothing to do with
the murder and armed robbery of Joseph Tramontana in Hillsborough County on August 3rd,
1981. Franks 2006 testimony stated outright that the crimes had been committed by himself
and Ray Stanley alone, and that Felix "had nothing to do with it." During the 1981 trial, Frank,
his sister Tina, and Tinas boyfriend (Ray Stanley) conspired to lie under oath that Felix killed
Tramontana. The three of them planned the crime together and then took advantage of Felix's
deafness to pin the crime on him.
There is overwhelming reason to believe that Felix Garcia, who enteredjail in 1981 at the age
of 19,is innocent. Franks fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime, while eyewitness
testimony puts Felix five miles away, watching a movie and eating pizza at his girlfriend's
house. Physical evidence proves this:Felix signed a receipt for a pizza that was delivered tohis
girlfriend'shouse at the time of the crime.Furthermore, Felix's girlfriend and her mother testified
in court that Felix was with them that night.
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Nonetheless, during the 2006 review of Felixs case, a judge denied freedom for Felix, stating
that he "couldn't discern the truth."His confusion rested on the one piece of physical evidence
linking Felix to the crime,a pawn ticket (for Tramontanas pinky ring) which Frank asked Felix to
sign because Frank told his brother that he "forgot his ID." Franks 2006 testimony, however,
makes it clear that the pawn ticket is irrelevant.
In your consideration of whether to recommend clemency for Felix after 32 years of unjust
imprisonment, please consider that at the 1981 trial, Felix was not given the proper
accommodations due a deaf person. As a result, Felix understood very little of what was
said.Worse, in the 30 years since then, Felix has suffered the physical and mental abuse
common among deaf inmates: rape, isolation, and neglect.
Please recommend that Felix Garcia be granted clemency.Please do not thwart justice by
keeping an innocent man in prison any longer. Let Felix have his life back.
Sincerely,