An elderly Santa Monica man, Mauro Concepcion Alvarez, went on trial in 197th State District Court Tuesday charged with the intoxication manslaughter death of Pedro Palomo, 68, a farmworker.

Palomo died on March 16, 2007 when the pickup the two men were in overturned near the floodway in Santa Monica. The man was pinned beneath the truck.

District Attorney Bernard Ammerman has already tried this case once and it ended in a mistrial in Oct. 2009. The question then and the question now, who was driving the pickup owned by Alvarez?

Ammerman tried to prove that Alvarez was behind the wheel when the accident happened and that he was legally drunk at the time. The defense argued that Palomo was driving Alvarez' truck and that he should not be blamed for the man’s death.

In the end, the 11-woman, 1- man jury could not decide who was at fault after a week of conflicting testimony.

Visiting judge Marta Huerta tried the case in October and she is back to try it again before a new jury of 8 women and 4 men. The second trial began with jury selection on Monday.

At the time of the accident Sheriff Larry Spence said that he arrived at the scene and saw Palomo pinned beneath the truck. He was life flighted to Valley Baptist Medical Center, Harlingen, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Palomo was a native of Mexico who worked for Alvarez. He is survived by his wife, three sons, three daughters and three brothers.

Maria Palomo, individually, and as the Executrix of the Estate of Pedro S. Palomo filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 197th State District Court in Feb. 2008, naming Alvarez as the defendant and claiming that he was responsible for her husband's death.

Yesterday during the first day of testimony in the new trial, Peggy Miller of Port Mansfield, testified that she was driving near Santa Monica at the time of the accident and stopped when she spotted the overturned pickup.

She said that Palomo was pinned under the truck and that he was"moaning and making gurgling sounds". She said she called 9-1-1 on her cell phone and waited until help arrived which she estimated took 15 to 20 minutes.

Miller said she made a statement to police and then went home. The defense did not cross examine Mrs. Miller.

The trial was recessed at 4:30 p.m. and will resume this morning at 10:30 a.m.