Man asks to withdraw guilty plea for shooting outside Logan apartment

LOGAN — A judge has refused to release a 35-year-old Logan man, who previously pleaded guilty to shooting at another man outside an apartment, as the man asked to withdraw his plea and hire his own attorney.

Luis Alvarez appeared in 1st District Court Tuesday afternoon. Judge Kevin Allen said he had received a letter from the defendant.

In a copy of that letter, Alvarez claimed he was forced to accept the plea deal, to keep prosecutors from filing felony charges against his wife. He wrote, “I do not think it is legal to exhort, strong arm, blackmail, or coerce.”

Alvarez is accused of shooting a 9 mm handgun at the victim and missing him, as he chased him outside the Logan apartment building, near Ellis Elementary School. SWAT Teams surrounded the area and later found the defendant at a nearby relative’s home. He was arrested and is being held on $55,000 bail.

During Tuesday’s court appearance, public defender Bryan Galloway asked that Alvarez be released from jail, so he and his family could hire new legal counsel.

State attorney Spencer Walsh objected to the release because of the seriousness of the charges.

Judge Allen said he would allow Alvarez the time to hire a new attorney but would not grant the release. He also explained, given the fact that the defendant pleaded guilty under the law, he would not allow him to withdraw his plea at this time. He suspended sentencing temporarily and ordered him to appear again in court January 3.

Alvarez has claimed he was protecting the occupants of the apartment from the victim, who had been previously harassing them.

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