Alvarez Admits on the Stand that he Shot Officer May, followed by EXECUTION style shots while Officer May was on the ground

The Murderer of Officer Richard May took the stand on Thursday. There was no defense of his actions. He admitted to the killing of a police officer. He spoke clearly about his full time job – a drug seller. But spoke vaguely about his killing of Rich. He spoke about his sale of meth during the morning and what he ordered to eat at the taqueria that afternoon. Alvarez knew he had a thousand dollars in his pocket. But could not explain how he stepped up to Rich on the ground and fired shots again – in execution style.

We know from the evidence that Alvarez fired first and fired several times. Rich was able to get his gun out and fire one shot as he fell backward, hitting Alvarez in the leg.

Alberto Alvarez did his best to look meek and quiet on the stand. He amazingly stated that Rich shot first, hitting him in the leg. Then he described how Rich simply stood there pointing his gun at Alvarez doing nothing while Alvarez fired many times in “self defense”. The prosecutor, Steve Wagstaffe, spent three hours showing the jury that Alvarez lied about everything he described.

My opinion of the surprise placement of Alvarez on the stand – the defense had nowhere to go but up. The defense team was looking for a sympathetic juror. To date, the defense has been very weak in their attempt to save Alvarez from the death penalty. Alvarez was coached well before he took the stand. He was quiet, and continued to say that he could not remember much.

The second witness of the day was the defense’s Use of Force “expert”. This “expert” stated that in his opinion, Rich should not have tried to stop Alvarez in the manner that he did. We do not know what words were exchanged between Alvarez and Rich during the short period that Alvarez (an armed Felon) was running from Rich, and then turned on Rich with his gun, and then firing. The prosecutor, Steve Wagstaffe, had the “expert” admit that his knowledge of the use of force was limited. In addition, the “expert” witness admitted that he was fired from his last job as Police Chief in a small town in Washington State, for cause. A key reason was a full vote of Non Confidence by the police and city personnel. It seems that he is not really an expert – but a person the defense had to go far to find to support their opinion. Probably the most damaging statement from the “expert” witness for the defense was when he admitted his first report to the defense attorneys stated that Rich “probably” used the wrong choice of force in attempting to stop Alvarez. Once the Defense team reviewed the report, it was returned and changed by the “expert” to state that Rich “did” use the wrong choice of tactics. Amazing – for an “expert”. This witness returns on Monday morning for further questioning by Wagstaffe.