Posted by Bill, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Nov 3, 2009 at 4:16 pm

I think the question is "did Alvarez shoot and kill May?" There is no legitimate excuse to kill an officer under any circumstance. When called upon to stop, a person must do so. If you choose not to stop, it is an offensive, not a defensive act to turn and shoot - especially to stand over a person and aim at his head at close range. This is an intent to kill, not to defend.

Nit picking by the defense lawyers doesn't change the fact that Alvarez meant to kill May.

Posted by Mr. Ironic, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 2:50 pm

^ Or you can also say that May meant to kill Alvarez.

"No legitimate excuse to kill an officer under any circumstance"?

Wow, you must be from the West Side of Palo Alto.

I grew up in East Palo Alto I've seen cops do plenty of bad things to citizens.

May roughed me up with his baton at a traffic stop for mistaken identity and all he told me was "best thing for you to do is go home a forget this ever happened".

Posted by anon, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 4:34 pm

Let's see... Alvarez is a documented "Sac Street" member, has a violent criminal history, and had a gun with him... I'd say if he pulled a gun on May, May was justified in defending himself.. Unfortunately, Alvarez got the best of May. Therefore, he should be executed...

Posted by Hmmm, a resident of East Palo Alto, on Nov 4, 2009 at 5:18 pm

Bill, apparently the defense's strategy is not to deny that Alvarez killed May (too much evidence, too many witnesses to deny), but they want to beat the death penalty, so their defense is that Alvarez was defending himself from an over-eager May.

Posted by Obey the Law, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 1:39 pm

Prison is worse than the death penalty in my opinion.

I agree there is no excuse to kill a police officer.

Mr. Ironic: It takes a certain personality to defend the streets of EPA and I salute them. They risk their lives everyday for EPA residents. If you ever needed to call them for help, you'd kiss their behinds for showing up to help you. Or maybe not. Someone with such an attitude would ask why they did not arrive sooner.