Dismissal of Charges against Train-Wreck Suspect Denied

GLENDALE - Los Angeles court judge David Wesley has refused to dismiss charges against Juan Manuel Alvarez, who is accused of causing Metrolink derailment that killed 11 people and injured 200 others in 2005.

The judge denied defense attorneys’ claims that not enough evidence had been given to the pretrial hearing.

Alvarez was charged with 11 counts of murder with special circumstances and one count each of arson and train wrecking. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Alvarez, who has been held without bail in Men’s Central Jail since he was arrested following the Jan. 26, 2005, crash.

Defense attorney Thomas Kielty admitted that the motion to dismiss the charges was ‘a long shot’ but maintained the view that prosecutors do not have enough evidence to prove Alvarez is culpable.

Prosecutors however commented that the reason was purely based on the defense lawyer’s interpretations of the suspect’s mental condition.

The defense claims that Alvarez parked his Jeep Cherokee on the train tracks in Glendale to commit suicide, not to sabotage the train.

But due to an apparent change of heart, he was not able to move his vehicle off the track which resulted in the accident. A southbound Metrolink train plowed into his SUV, derailed and crashed into a northbound Metrolink train at the border of Glendale and Los Angeles.

Another hearing has been held last April 14.