Juan Manuel Alvarez

LOS ANGELES ? The case against Juan Manuel Alvarez, accused of causing the deaths of 11 people after a Metrolink train plowed into his Jeep Cherokee in 2005, moved forward Thursday as a witness close to Alvarez portrayed him as respectful and well-mannered. ?Juan Alvarez always treated me with respect,? said Olga Perez, who took part in traditional Aztec dance rituals in Cypress with the 29-year-old Alvarez. ?He was always very polite, very helpful. He would never joke around like some of the other kids would joke around and play.

Appeals court sides with Metrolink The state appeals court on Tuesday sided with Metrolink in its argument that federal regulations allowing the contentious “push-pull” method for the agency’s trains preclude claims of negligence in an ongoing civil lawsuit. Families suing the commuter agency argue the push-pull method, which allows trains to be powered from either end, greatly contributed to the intensity of the 2005 derailment because the end of the train involved in the collision was not protected with an engine.

LOS ANGELES — Two weeks after skipping a pretrial hearing, the man facing the death penalty for allegedly causing the worst train wreck in Metrolink history appeared in court Friday as attorneys continued the discovery process. Juan Manuel Alvarez is charged with arson and 11 counts of murder with special circumstances for allegedly parking his Jeep Cherokee on Glendale train tracks in Jan. 26, 2005, and causing the crash that killed 11 people and left nearly 200 others injured.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — Jurors on Wednesday visited the mangled wreckage and charred remains of four Metrolink train cars at the heart of the case against Juan Manuel Alvarez, as the penalty phase against the day laborer continued for a third day. The viewing was proposed by prosecutors who wanted to give jurors a more intimate look at the damaged train cars that they heard about during the eight-week trial, officials said. Alvarez, who opted to remain in his Men’s County Jail cell in Los Angeles during the jury viewing, was convicted of 11 counts of first-degree murder on June 26 for parking his Jeep Cherokee on a set of Metrolink tracks 125 feet from the Chevy Chase Drive crossing in Glendale.

Family members of the 11 people killed in the 2005 Metrolink train derailment no longer need to wonder what will happen to the man who caused it. Juan Manuel Alvarez was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for parking his sport utility vehicle on the tracks and causing the worst wreck in Metrolink history. Many people, including the prosecution, thought Alvarez should be put to death, but the real comfort for victims? families and the community is that it?

LOS ANGELES ? A Superior Court judge on Monday gave defense attorneys for Juan Manuel Alvarez ? accused of murdering 11 people in the Jan. 26, 2005, Metrolink train derailment ? until June 16 to submit a letter detailing why prosecutors should reconsider seeking the death penalty. The district attorney's office announced in August that it would seek the death penalty for Alvarez. But after a new defense team came on to represent Alvarez in September, Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrick Dixon offered to let them submit a reconsideration letter on the death penalty decision, he said Tuesday.

It's been a year and half since the deadliest train crash in Metrolink's history killed 11 people and injured nearly 200. Yet, the victims and their families are no closer to justice. Multiple changes in defense attorneys have stalled a legal case that should already be well on its way to determining if Juan Manuel Alvarez is guilty of intentionally causing the Jan. 26, 2006, crash and of murder for parking his Jeep Cherokee on the train tracks near Chevy Chase Drive and dousing it with gasoline ?