Garcia was born on November 24, 1928, in Sacramento, California.

[6] Garcia was in the United States Army Air Forces in the aftermath of World War II, from 1946 to 1949.

He received an Associate of Arts degree from Sacramento City College in 1951 and a Bachelor of Laws from McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific in 1958.

He was a judge on the Sacramento Municipal Court, California from 1972 to 1984.

[7] On February 16, 1984, Garcia was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California vacated by Judge Philip Charles Wilkins.