Free Republic

Several jurors wept Monday as they listened to emotional testimony from those who lost loved ones three years ago because Juan Manuel Alvarez parked his vehicle on railway tracks, triggering the worst train wreck in Metrolink history. The tears flowed from jurors as well as witnesses on the first day of testimony in the penalty phase of Alvarez's trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. At one point, presiding Judge William R. Pounders told the prosecutors and defense attorneys that he noticed jurors were "having a hard time." "Almost all are crying," Pounders said. He later advised the panel of...

Jurors today convicted Juan Manuel Alvarez of 11 counts of first-degree murder for the deadly Metrolink crash he caused three years ago when he parked his vehicle on railroad tracks. The jury also found the 29-year-old Compton laborer guilty of arson and a special circumstance allegation that makes him eligible for the death penalty. Jurors will now hear testimony to determine whether Alvarez should be put to death for his crimes. Alvarez sat without showing emotion as the guilty verdicts were announced in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. The jury of nine women and three men took less than two...

LOS ANGELES — Deputy Dist. Atty. John Monaghan told jurors during closing arguments Wednesday that Juan Manuel Alvarez never intended to commit suicide when he drove his SUV onto train tracks at Chevy Chase Drive, having instead perpetrated the 2005 Metrolink train derailment that killed 11 and injured more than 180 passengers as an attention-grabbing stunt. Alvarez is charged with 11 counts of murder with special circumstances and one count each of arson and train wrecking for causing a Jan. 26, 2005, three-train crash when he drove his Jeep Cherokee onto the Metrolink tracks between Glendale and Los Angeles and...

Commuter train derails in Glendale Associated Press GLENDALE, Calif. - A Metrolink commuter train derailed early Wednesday in this Los Angeles suburb, and firefighters were searching through the wreckage. Television reports showed smoke coming from twisted wreckage at the scene of the crash, where two separate trains could be seen derailed. The derailment in this Los Angeles suburb was near San Fernando Road and Chevy Chase Boulevard.