Inez García (1941–2003) was an American woman who gained notoriety within the

feminist movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and wom ...

after being accused of the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

of a man who had previously

raped Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person w ...

her in 1974.

Background

García was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and raised in

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...

. Her ethnic heritage was mixed Puerto Rican and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n. She married the

Cuban exile A Cuban exile is a person who has been exiled from Cuba. Many Cuban exiles have various differing experiences as emigrants depending on when they emigrated from Cuba, and why they emigrated. The exile of Cubans has been a dominating factor in C ...

and

anti-Castro The Cuban dissident movement is a political movement in Cuba whose aim is to replace the current government with a liberal democracy. According to Human Rights Watch, the Marxist-Leninist Cuban government represses nearly all forms of political d ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

Juan García Cardenas, and the two of them had a son in 1963. Cardenas was imprisoned in

Soledad, California Soledad is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. It is in the Salinas Valley, southeast of Salinas, California, Salinas, the county seat. Soledad's population was 24,925 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from ...

, after being convicted of involvement in a political bombing in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of 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 Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

. She earned a reputation in the small, mostly

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

community as a devout and chaste

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. She shared an apartment with Fred Medrano, a

Texan Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has an international border wit ...

who was involved in the

illegal drug trade The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, exce ...

Rape and murder

On March 17, 1974, García was entertaining friends at her apartment; Medrano also had a guest, with whom he was smoking

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

. Louie Castillo and Miguel Jimenez, Soledad locals and acquaintances of Medrano, arrived in a state of inebriation to purchase

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

from Medrano. They began harassing García and her friends, and Garcia's guests departed, leaving García with the others in the apartment. 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 until the 300-pound Jimenez intervened, beating Medrano and threatening him with a knife. Jimenez and Castillo took García to an alley behind the building, where Jimenez restrained and Castillo raped her, according to García'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 García-Medrano residence, laughing, taunting, and threatening García's life if she did not leave town. García 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, according to Garcia's testimony during her 1975 retrial, Jimenez appeared to brandish his knife, and García shot him. Castillo, meanwhile, escaped into a nearby park. Medrano and García continued until they arrived at the home of the two friends that had visited her earlier, and when the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

arrived, she surrendered to them. While being interrogated, García claimed that the two men had merely attempted to rape her. At the jail, she was tested for drugs and alcohol but not for signs of rape. Castillo was never charged with any crime.

Trial

When Cardenas learned of his wife's predicament, he recommended that she retain

Charles Garry Charles R. Garry (March 17, 1909 – August 16, 1991) was an American civil rights attorney who represented a number of high-profile clients in political cases during the 1960s and 1970s, including Huey P. Newton during his 1968 capital murder tri ...

, a criminal attorney who had gained a reputation in Soledad State Penitentiary as the defender of George Jackson,

Huey P. Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African American revolutionary and political activist who co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966. He ran the party as its first leader and crafted its ten-point manifesto with ...

, and

Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an African American revolutionary, political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization the Black Panther Party (BPP) ...

. At the same time, news of the case reached the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, where the

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

and Chicano movements were at their apex. García began speaking to women's groups in the area, while the Inez Garcia Defense Committee raised money for the defense and publicized the case, hoping to highlight it as a prime example of gender inequity in the criminal justice system rather than a simple murder. Through her contact with feminist groups, Garcia became an outspoken critic of patriarchy, accusing her own judge of prejudice and sexism. During the trial, Garry argued that García had acted with diminished capacity due to the trauma of her rape and a history of mental instability. Not only did this defense fail to win the sympathy of the jury, it also disappointed feminists who preferred to project the image of García as a symbol of strength and resistance to male dominance. García was convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced, and served two years of a five-year-to-life sentence in the

California Institution for Women California Institution for Women (CIW) is an American women's state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California, east of Los Angeles, although the mailing address states " Corona," which is in Riverside County, Calif ...

before her appeal was heard.

Retrial

During her retrial, García was defended by the feminist lawyer Susan Jordan. Jordan dropped the "diminished capacity" defense, instead arguing simple self-defense. The argument convinced the jury, which exonerated the defendant.

Aftermath

The case was construed in legal circles as a ruling in favor of a woman's right to use deadly force against sexual assault. García herself continued to advocate for the rights of women and rape victims, but her activism diminished as a result of her infirmity. Toward the end of her life, she battled

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and died in February 2003 in Miami. As a cause celebrity, her case inspired numerous works of art and music, including the Beverly Grant folk song "Inez", performed with the group The Human Condition; Marge Piercy's poem "For Inez Garcia"; and Jayne Cortez's poem "Rape."

References