LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jurors on Tuesday recommended life in prison for a California man who drove his vehicle onto a commuter rail line, causing the deadliest U.S. train crash in recent years with 11 people killed.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Juan MAN (MAN.XE)elAlvarez, 29, who was convicted last month of 11 counts offirst-degree murder stemming from the collision of two LosAngeles Metrolink commuter trains in 2005.
The fiery wreck, the deadliest in the United States since1999, left 180 people injured.
The judge will sentence Alvarez on August 20. Judgesusually follow the jury's recommendation.
Alvarez testified during his trial that he meant to commitsuicide by parking his Jeep Cherokee on the rail line north ofdowntown Los Angeles near Glendale but changed his mind andcould not get the vehicle off the tracks.
Prosecutors said the former construction worker intended tocause a calamity to get the attention of his estranged wife.Arson investigators said gasoline had been poured on the insideand outside of the vehicle.
Police said Alvarez was found wandering around the scene ofthe accident muttering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He apparentlyhad stood by and watched as one train ploughed into hisvehicle, then derailed and crashed into an oncoming train.
Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John Monaghantold jurors that Alvarez deserved to die by lethal injectionbecause he has never shown true remorse.
Defence attorney Michael Belter argued that his client wassorry for what he had done and was a "troubled person" who hadbeen neglected and "beaten like a dog" as a young child.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Mary Milliken andJohn O'Callaghan)
