Overview
- The defendant formally appointed private attorneys Javier Ignacio Baños and Sebastián Queijeiro on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, and the new lawyers asked the court for time to review the full record.
- The court accepted the request and suspended the session set for August 19, postponing planned testimony by four police officers until the next hearing on August 26, 2026.
- Álvarez has not yet testified in the oral trial and earlier testimony from August 14 by eyewitness Carlos Ulises Stiempcich said the victim was shot once in the eye and hit by three additional shots.
- The case, charged as homicide aggravated by use of a firearm, carries a long history of delays after the Cuerpo Médico Forense ruled in 2021 (and again in 2023) that Álvarez at times lacked capacity to stand trial, a point contested by prosecutors.
- The pause gives the new defense access to the court's digital file and time to examine police reports and forensic evidence, which could change how the defense frames challenges to witness accounts and medical findings when the trial resumes.