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GLENDALECalif. - The man accused of causing Wednesday's deadly Metrolink train derailment made his first court appearance Friday on 11 murder charges that could send him to death row.
Juan Manuel Alvarez, 25, showed up at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse in what appeared to be hospital clothes and a bandage around his wrist, and was helped to his feet by sheriff's officials when Superior Court Commissioner Dennis E. Mulcahy asked him to stand. Alvarez was ordered held without bail, and his arraignment was postponed to Feb. 15 at the defense's request. Alvarez's attorney, Eric A. Chase, told the commissioner that he wants time for some "medical and psychological" examinations of his client.
Alvarez is accused of driving a green Jeep Grand Cherokee onto the tracks in a suicide attempt and then fleeing from the vehicle before a train slammed into it.
Eleven people were killed, and nearly 200 others were injured.
"Given both the seriousness of this case and what we already know about this case in terms of Mr. Alvarez's actions both before and after the train wreck, I think it's incumbent upon me to get some evaluations from some experts who know more about this stuff than I do and that's what we're doing," Chase told reporters outside the courtroom after the brief hearing.
"We're only two days into this thing, and emotions are running high right now," Chase said. "And I'm sensing a mentality out there that I almost want to call a lynch mob mentality.
"But I'm hoping that that calms down a little bit in the days to come and that the people who are making decisions about Mr. Alvarez's life, about the death penalty in this case, and about other factors that are going to affect the outcomes here just take a step back and think about the consequences of their actions," he said.
Alvarez was initially charged with 10 counts of murder late Wednesday -- within hours after the deadly crash -- and an 11th murder charge was added Friday.
The murder charges include the special circumstances of train wrecking and multiple murder.
"The special circumstances alleged in this complaint could possibly call for the death penalty," said Patrick Dixon, head of the District Attorney's Major Crimes Division. "Our office has well-established, very formal procedures determining whether or not we ask for the death penalty in any given case. And, after the preliminary hearing, the office will engage in that process and come to a decision ... when the case reaches Superior Court trial level."
Dixon, who went to the scene of the derailment, called it "an absolute horrible, horrible crime scene."
Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson added, "It was unbelievable. I've never seen any sort of devastation like this in my life. It was absolutely surreal."
Alvarez's attorney said he was retained by the defendant's family, whom he said is "very distraught."
As for his client, Chase said he's had one opportunity to speak with him and "he was heavily sedated."
"He's recovering. He had a chest tube because he had a collapsed lung. He is feeling better today than he was yesterday," Chase said.
Alvarez, whose last known address was in Compton, has been under suicide watch since Wednesday because of what authorities describe as self-inflicted knife injuries to his chest and wrists.
Nine men and two women were killed, and 183 others were injured, some critically, in connection with the deadliest U.S. train crash since 1999.
Southbound train No. 100 from Ventura County left Moorpark at 5:07 a.m. At 6:01 a.m., it struck the SUV that Alvarez allegedly left on the tracks.
The impact caused train No. 100 to derail, hit a parked Union Pacific locomotive to the right, and, as it jackknifed, strike northbound Metrolink train No. 901, which had left Union Station in downtown Los Angeles at 5:48 a.m.
Some people described it as a "perfect storm," meaning all the elements for the historic calamity came together in an instant.
Despondent over the breakup of his marriage, Alvarez had planned to kill himself when he drove his SUV in the path of a Metrolink train, but he bolted from the vehicle at the last moment, according to authorities.
He reportedly watched the collision. Then, as onlookers and emergency crews rushed to help those trapped in the flaming wreckage, Alvarez walked to a female friend's home in nearby Atwater Village, where he slashed his wrists and stabbed himself in the chest, sources close to the investigation told the Daily News.
"Now that we have done further investigation, we know the self-inflicted wounds were received after he placed the car on the tracks and after he fled from the scene," one source told the newspaper.
