Key Suspect in Slaying of Girl Appears for Hearing

As detectives forged ahead with their investigation into last month’s slaying of Oak View teenager Kali Manley, the prime suspect in her homicide appeared briefly in a Ventura County courtroom Monday on unrelated charges.

David Alvarez, a stocky 22-year-old with bushy eyebrows and thick arms, stared at a throng of reporters and TV crews drawn not by his terrorist threats case but by his possible involvement in Manley’s slaying.

The 14-year-old was last seen the night of Dec. 20 at a Miramonte convenience store with Alvarez and another man, authorities said. While she reportedly sat in his pickup truck in the parking lot, Alvarez allegedly pulled a gun on a man with whom he had an ongoing feud and threatened him.

Alvarez was expected to enter pleas Monday afternoon on two felony charges stemming from that incident, but sought a postponement after changing his defense lawyer.

Meanwhile, Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn said authorities are at least a week away from possibly filing murder charges against Alvarez, who remains the key suspect in the girl’s slaying.

“We have not been presented any information from the Sheriff’s Department at this time,” Glynn said after the hearing. “They have more to do. They need to interview more witnesses.”

Investigators are also awaiting results of toxicology tests on Manley’s body, he said. Glynn declined to comment on any specifics of the investigation, but told reporters: “There is a lot more [about this case] than appears on the surface.”

Ten days ago, Alvarez, an Ojai resident, ended a weeklong search for the missing teen by leading authorities to a culvert in the Ventura County back country where Manley’s body was found inside a large drainage pipe.

According to the medical examiner, she had been strangled. But authorities have been tight-lipped about other details surrounding her death.

“The case is on hold until the Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney decide what to do,” said attorney Louis “Chuck” Samonsky, who represented Alvarez until Monday. “It’s not unusual.”

*

Whether Ventura County prosecutors will handle the case if charges are filed is still undetermined.

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury has notified the state attorney general’s office of a potential conflict of interest because the suspect’s parents, Eugene and Maria Alvarez, are his friends and political supporters.

A spokesman for the attorney general’s office said Monday that the matter is being reviewed.

Meanwhile, the Alvarez family is trying to cope with an unusual situation: a son facing possible murder charges by the district attorney they’ve backed for years.

“Their position is Mr. Bradbury is doing his job,” said Ventura attorney Jay Johnson, who has represented the Alvarez family. “They are not asking for any favors, they are not looking for any.”

A former employee of his father’s El Pollo Supremo restaurant chain, David Alvarez remains jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail. On Monday, he qualified for a court-appointed public defender, but the public defender’s office declared an undisclosed conflict of interest.

The case was then assigned by Judge Edward Brodie to Conflict Defense Associates, a Ventura legal group that contracts with the county to represent indigent clients when the public defender cannot. Veteran defense attorney James M. Farley is expected to take over the case.

Standing outside the courtroom after Monday’s hearing, Johnson said publicity surrounding the girl’s slaying has been so intense it may make it difficult for Alvarez to receive a fair trial if he is charged with murder.

Johnson, who shares office space with Samonsky, said his office has been inundated with hate mail and threatening phone calls because of Samonsky’s initial reluctance to let his client lead authorities to Manley’s body.

*

“The community reaction, unfortunately, has been very negative,” he said. “Chuck was trying to advise his client. It’s unfortunate the public doesn’t understand that.”

Although Johnson said it was too soon to talk about moving the trial outside the county because of publicity and community outrage, he said concerns about finding an impartial jury could be raised in the future.

“If the trial was held this week,” he said of Alvarez’s ability to get a fair trial, “I’d say, ‘No way.’ Hopefully it will die down.”