(The following appeared on the Long Beach Press-Telegram website on June 19.)
LOS ANGELES — A man who parked his Jeep Cherokee on railroad tracks, resulting in a Metrolink derailment that killed 11 people and injured more than 180 others, was making a “statement” and never intended to commit suicide, a prosecutor told jurors Thursday.
“This wasn’t an accident. … This was an intentional act done by a man who weighed consequences,” Deputy District Attorney John Monaghan said of Juan Manuel Alvarez’s actions before the Jan. 26, 2005, crash at the Los Angeles-Glendale city line.
Alvarez is charged with 11 counts of murder and one count each of arson and train wrecking, along with the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and train wrecking.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against the 29-year-old former Compton resident, who has been jailed without bail since shortly after the crash.
In his closing argument, Monaghan told jurors that two key prosecution witnesses sewed up the case against Alvarez early on in the trial.
Douglas Ross testified that he saw a man pouring something on the Jeep after driving it onto the railroad right- of-way – not earlier on a nearby street in an aborted suicide attempt as Alvarez told jurors during his five-day stint on the stand, according to the prosecutor.
Another witness, Edward Branch, said he spotted a man on the passenger side of the SUV on the tracks and saw him run from the same side of the Cherokee as the oncoming train approached, the prosecutor said.
Alvarez denied ever being on that side of the vehicle while it was on the tracks. He claimed he was frantically struggling to get the Jeep off the tracks and tried to wave the train down after he decided he didn’t want to commit suicide, the prosecutor said.
Monaghan suggested that Alvarez was pouring gasoline in the interior of the vehicle while watching for the oncoming train to make sure he got out of the way on time.
The prosecutor questioned why Alvarez doused the SUV with gasoline if he intended to set himself on fire as he claimed, and why he wouldn’t put every ounce of gasoline on himself instead.
“… It’s because you want to have an explosion. You want to derail a train. You want to make a statement,” Monaghan told jurors.
The prosecutor noted the train’s engineer, Bruce Gray, testified that he didn’t see anyone trying to wave him down and didn’t see anyone near the Jeep – as Alvarez claimed he was.
“He’s (the engineer) going to be paying very, very, very close attention to that vehicle,” Monaghan said. “You’re going to have to determine if Mr. Alvarez was honest with you during much of his testimony … The overwhelming evidence shows he simply was not honest.”
The prosecutor said Alvarez’s admission that he moved his work tools out of his SUV that morning showed he wasn’t intending to commit suicide and took them out of the vehicle because they were important to him and he wanted to safeguard them.
“He was going to go out there and make as big a scene as he could,” Monaghan said.
Alvarez has experience as a welder and “knew exactly what was going to happen” when a Jeep doused in gasoline was put on the railroad tracks, the prosecutor said.
Metrolink train No. 100 – which was heading south on its way to Union Station – derailed after plowing into the Jeep, then crashed into northbound Metrolink train No. 901 at the Glendale-Los Angeles city line. The train also struck a Union-Pacific freight train, which wound up on its side.
Monaghan noted the heroism of those who came to the aid of the occupants, including a man who got on the burning train to try to save one of the many victims.
“Did he (Alvarez) help a single person?” Monaghan asked rhetorically. “… With Mr. Alvarez, it’s all about me, me, me.”
He told jurors that Alvarez “doesn’t want to accept responsibility” and showed the panel photos of the victims alive and then dead – many with gruesome injuries.
Those killed in the crash included train conductor Tom Ormiston, a 58-year-old Vietnam veteran, and sheriff’s Deputy James Tutino, 47, who took the commuter train occasionally to get to work at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.
Monaghan is set to continue his closing remarks this morning, followed by the defense’s closing argument. The panel will likely begin deliberations next week.