State appeals court overturns conviction in fatal mosh-pit stabbing case

A state appeals court has overturned the conviction of a man who stabbed a fellow concertgoer to death during a punk show at a Santa Ana club.

Citing an error in jury instructions, a panel of California appeals court judges reversed the conviction of Juan Angel Rivera, who in 2017 was sentenced to 11 years in prison after being found guilty of voluntary manslaughter for the killing of 23-year-old Nathan Alfaro.

The appellate judges, in a written ruling released Friday, concluded that Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick H. Donahue erred by failing to instruct jurors about a lesser offense of involuntary manslaughter.

“There was substantial evidence from which the jury could reasonably conclude (Rivera) acted with gross negligence rather than implied or express malice, which is what makes the failure to instruct on involuntary manslaughter erroneous,” the appeals court judges wrote in their ruling. “Without instructions on that offense the jury did not have the full range of verdict options borne out by the evidence.”

During Rivera’s trial, a prosecutor unsuccessfully urged jurors to find Rivera guilty of murder.

That Rivera stabbed an unarmed Alfaro to death during the concert at Underground DTSA was not disputed during his trial.

The first altercation between Rivera and Alfaro broke out when Alfaro was apparently angered by Rivera’s attempts to start a mosh pit. Other audience members broke the fight up, but a second altercation quickly ignited, ending with Rivera pulling out a concealed knife and fatally stabbing Alfaro.

During Rivera’s trial, Deputy District Attorney Keith Burke argued that Rivera intentionally provoked the second altercation with Alfaro in order to stab him. Rivera testified that he was being pummeled by the larger Alfaro, that he couldn’t breathe, and that he stabbed Alfaro because he believed he was going to die.

Before sentencing Rivera to prison, Donahue said Rivera’s “abnormal fascination with knives” had turned what could have been a quick fight into a tragic death.

Rivera during his sentencing hearing offered an apology to Alfaro’s family and friend’s, noting the two of them were both music lovers and attendees of numerous local shows, who could have gotten along well had they met under other circumstances.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office, as well as the public defender who represented Rivera during his trial, did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.