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Published on Monday, September 08, 2008
By LA Daily News Staff Writer
After convicting Juan Alvarez of first-degree murder and recommending a life sentence without parole, some jurors in the Metrolink train derailment case last month said they really didn't think Alvarez intended to kill anyone.
But they said they had no choice in convicting him of murder. Their hands were tied, they explained, by California's felony murder law because the killings took place during the commission of another violent felony - arson. Three of the jurors said they likely wouldn't even have convicted Alvarez on the 11 counts of first-degree murder if it hadn't been for that law.
"I truly believe that Mr. Alvarez did not intend to hurt, let alone kill, anyone when he drove his Jeep on the train tracks in January of '05," the jury foreman said. "He was reckless. He's a dangerous man, but I don't think he had any intention. And if it weren't for the murder felony statute, he probably would not have been convicted of first-degree murder
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