By Shayna Jacobs
Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A grand jury declined to indict a Harlem man who has been in jail since a police shootout last summer that ended with him being shot more than 20 times.
After his miraculous recovery and almost eight months of legal proceedings, Angel Alvarez, 24, walked out of Manhattan Supreme Court a free man Wednesday after the grand jury voted not to charge him eight months after the Aug. 8 shootout that killed Louis Soto, 21.
"I'm alive, I'm free, I'm happy!" Alvarez said as he carried his 3-year-old son, Angel, Jr., out of the courthouse, according to the New York Post.
"They didn't even think I was going to be able to walk," he added.
Alvarez initially faced a gun possession offense, but prosecutors said they needed more time before bringing charges against him. He could have been indicted on anything from gun possession to murder.
It is believed that a simmering feud between Alvarez and Soto sparked the violence that turned an early morning block party into a scene of chaos last summer.
Lawyers for Alvarez argued he wrestled the .38 caliber revolver from Soto's hands in self-defense.
An extended grand jury proceeding was ordered about eight months ago and was convened in December, following a rarely-used hearing in hopes to buy an extension because prosecutors said they needed more time to investigate the matter.
Police officers who were at the scene could still face charges. The fired a total of 46 shots, allegedly including the round that killed Soto.
But all this time, Alvarez sat in jail, with the consent of his lawyers, who believed agreeing to keep him incarcerated for the duration of the secret proceeding would exonerate the young father.
Although his lawyers were not present at the proceedings, they said they did not believe there were any witnesses to say Alvarez had done something wrong.
"There wasn't even a reasonable suspicion to believe he had committed a crime,'" said Zachary Johnson, one of his attorneys.
Reports published after the incident said that $87,000 and drugs were found in Alvarez's apartment. It is unknown whether that information was presented to the grand jury for consideration.