Sanchez was arrested March 21, 2004, a day after he allegedly stabbed Pollett and Kris Johnson, 19, with a knife.

Sanchez was indicted on murder charges by a criminal grand jury on Aug. 10. According to witness testimony before the grand jury, a traffic altercation on Bailey Road led to a confrontation in the middle of a quiet Almaden neighborhood early that morning.

Johnson was driving Pollett and another friend back to San Jose about 2:30 a.m. after attending a bonfire party in Morgan Hill.

Witnesses testified that Sanchez began following Johnson's car after a third car--carrying Sanchez's cousin--drove off the road into a ravine along Bailey Road.

The 19-year-old Johnson told the jurors that he and his two friends had been drinking at the party. A toxicology test conducted on Pollett revealed a blood alcohol level of 0.12 percent. In California, drivers with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent are considered intoxicated. Pollett was not driving the night of his death.

As is standard procedure in grand jury hearings, neither Sanchez nor his attorney was allowed to attend the hearing. Public defender Ken Mandel, who represents Sanchez, has said that his client acted in self-defense.

Deputy District Attorney Cameron Bowman is prosecuting the case. Although the trial remains scheduled to begin on Feb. 28, a third postponement to March is expected due to two older homicide cases on Bowman's calendar.