The physician who examined a 26-year-old man accused of gunning down East Palo Alto police Officer Richard May testified Monday that the defendant apparently sustained a single bullet wound to the back of his right thigh and no other major injuries.

The testimony is important because defense attorneys say May, a former Lompoc police officer who was living in Orcutt at the time of his death, chased Alberto Alvarez after seeing him leave the scene of a fight in East Palo Alto, struck him with his baton and fired the first shot as the defendant tried to escape.

Dr. Linda Lee, an emergency room doctor, said she treated Alvarez

Jan. 8, 2006, at the San Mateo Medical Center - the day after May died.

During the medical examination, Lee found what she believed to be exit and entrance wounds from a single bullet, she said.

The bullet apparently pierced the back of Alvarez's right thigh, traveling from right to left, Lee said after San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Craig Parsons asked her to clarify previous testimony about the wound.

Lead defense attorney Charles Robinson then excitedly asked a series of questions and had Lee draw a diagram of his client's thigh.

San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe has said Alvarez opened fire on May because he wanted to avoid going back to prison for a parole violation, ran away, and then returned to execute the 38-year-old policeman and father of three as he lay on the ground.

At the hospital the day after the shooting, Alvarez complained of pain to his left side but doctors and nurses found no wounds there, Lee and nurse Jennifer Moon testified.

Neither remembered seeing injuries on the right part of Alvarez's back, where May allegedly struck him with a baton as he ran away.

However, photographs displayed to the jury during attorneys' opening statements last month showed bruising in that area.

During cross-examination, Robinson questioned Lee about how long it generally takes for a bruise to appear. The doctor noted that the time frame can vary.

Lee and Moon also testified they hadn't checked Alvarez for a concussion or other head injuries because there was no indication he suffered any trauma in that area.

The defendant was in a car accident days before May's shooting Jan. 7, 2006, and hit his head on the windshield, defense attorney Eric Liberman said outside the courtroom.

It remains unclear whether the defense will argue Alvarez was disoriented from the crash on the day of May's death.

Also Monday, three experts who processed and analyzed evidence in the case for the San Mateo County sheriff's office crime laboratory testified, with one saying she was "100 percent positive" that palm and finger prints from a truck parked in the driveway where the shooting took place belong to Alvarez.

Before the lunch break, one juror asked to speak with Judge Parsons, and said he thought he attended grammar school with one of the forensic experts.

The man, who appeared to be in his 50s, told the judge he hadn't seen his former classmate in the years since, and said the connection wouldn't color his view of the woman's testimony.

"I'm not going to ask your age, but it's been a long time since you've been in grammar school," Parsons said with a smile.

"You'd be right on that," the juror responded.

Parsons thanked the man for disclosing the possible relationship, and said he could continue as a juror.

As court adjourned for the day, Parsons told the jury he expected deliberations to begin before Thanksgiving.

Alvarez could face the death penalty if jurors convict him of first-degree murder with the special circumstances that May was performing his police duties when killed.

The defendant remains in custody on no-bail status.

E-mail Jessica Bernstein-Wax at jbernstein@dailynewsgroup.com.

November 3, 2009