New delay for trial in referee's assault
New delay for trial in referee's assault
By Tom Lochner
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
A judge Monday postponed yet again the trial of a youth soccer coach accused of punching and kicking a referee, amid confusion over who will represent the defendant.
Mauricio Alvarez faces two misdemeanor battery counts alleging that he attacked Bruce Greenlee in a dispute over player credentials. Each count carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Last week, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Carol Brosnahan sent Alvarez to the public defender's office and ordered him back in court in Oakland on Monday.
A calendar at the court clerk's office Monday indicated the public defender had agreed to represent Alvarez. But in court Monday, Deputy Public Defender Nora Wong said Alvarez is ineligible. Brosnahan told Alvarez to contact the county bar association's "modest means" section and come back to court next week.
Wong did not return calls Monday.
Outside court, Alvarez said he does not have a lot of money, that he works four days a week as an electrician and that he recently had to move to Richmond when his landlord sold the Berkeley home he rented.
Last month, Alvarez and his private attorney, Angela Greene, parted ways by mutual consent. Greene said Alvarez had rejected an offer by the district attorney's office to plead guilty to one count and receive a six-month jail sentence.
Alvarez said Deputy District Attorney Rafael Vazquez rejected his counteroffer. Alvarez declined to disclose the terms, but said it involved "certainly more than a weekend in jail." He said that before the Albany incident, his only trouble with the law, in the United States or in his native Mexico, was a ticket for driving in a carpool lane with too few occupants.
Vazquez did not return calls.
Alvarez maintains that he is innocent and that someone else attacked Greenlee. But as team coach, Alvarez said, he is willing to take some responsibility for the incident, which occurred Nov. 20 at halftime of an Alameda-Contra Costa Youth Soccer League tournament match in Albany's Memorial Park.
Moments earlier, Greenlee had disqualified Alvarez's team of 8- and 9-year-olds for failing to produce passes for all its players. Alvarez's team, the Richmond Cabritos, was leading the El Cerrito Hurricanes, 1-0.
Greenlee has said Alvarez attacked him. He said he does not want Alvarez to receive a long sentence but to serve a weekend in jail; to apologize publicly; to sever his ties with youth soccer; to pay Greenlee's uninsured medical expenses of $110; and to be barred by a restraining order from contact with Greenlee.
Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.
