By John Coté
The San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — Now the fate of Alberto Alvarez is in the hands of the same jury that convicted him Wednesday of murdering an East Palo Alto police officer.
The San Mateo County jury deliberated for a little more than a day before convicting the East Palo Alto resident of first-degree murder in the Jan. 7, 2006, shooting of Officer Richard May. The jury also found that Alvarez, 26, committed the special circumstance of murdering a police officer, making the parolee eligible for the death penalty.
The jurors are to return to Superior Court in Redwood City on Dec. 7 to begin hearing testimony on whether Alvarez should be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.
Prosecutor Steve Wagstaffe told the jury that Alvarez had fired three shots at May, then stood over the wounded officer and “executed” him with a final shot to the head.
The defense argued that May had fired first and that Alvarez had returned fire trying to defend himself after being chased, beaten and shot.
“We told the jury right from the beginning this wasn’t really a whodunit but a what-happened-and-why,” said Eric Liberman, one of Alvarez’s attorneys. “Now it’s time to forge ahead with trying to save my client’s life.”
The shooting stemmed from a fight at Villa Taqueria just off University Avenue. May encountered Alvarez as he was running from the restaurant, and Alvarez “made the choice - the horrible choice - to shoot his way out,” Wagstaffe told the jury.
May managed to fire one shot, striking Alvarez in the leg, before being slain, the prosecutor said.
May, 38, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A native of San Luis Obispo, he had been a police officer for 14 years in Lompoc Santa Barbara County before joining the East Palo Alto force about 18 months before he was killed. He left behind a wife and three children.
Alvarez, a parolee with a prior felony conviction for gun possession, was arrested the day after the killing while hiding in the backseat of a friend’s car.
Copyright 2009 San Francisco Chronicle