Thread: Kate Steinle lawsuit: Federal judge probes stolen BLM gun in family’s suit against go

Kate Steinle lawsuit: Federal judge probes stolen BLM gun in family’s suit against government


Attorney Frank Pitre, right, announces the lawsuit to be filed by the family of Kathryn Steinle against San Francisco County Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and other law enforcement agencies. Kathryn Steinle died July 1, 2015 while walking along Pier 14 with her father after she was shot by an undocumented immigrant, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, who says he merely found the gun that fired the bullet that struck Steinle, killing her. Lopez-Sanchez’s arrest exposed a flaw in the lines of communication between city, county and federal law enforcment agencies operating in so-called ‘sanctuary cities like San Francisco. Lopez-Sanchez had been deported five previous times and returned to California after each deportation. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)


By THOMAS PEELE |
PUBLISHED: December 2, 2016 at 1:12 pm | UPDATED: December 2, 2016 at 3:55 pm

SAN FRANCISCO — Should the government share in the blame for the death of Kate Steinle because a federal ranger left his pistol in a backpack that was stolen from inside his vehicle?

U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero raised that question Friday during a federal court hearing in a lawsuit brought by Steinle’s family over whether the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies are liable for her death.


Kate Steinle. (Courtesy of Nicole Ludwig)


Was Steinle’s death akin to a scenario where someone left keys in an unlocked car that was then stolen and the used to plow into people? Spero asked lawyers.

“We have the same thing here. The gun was used to commit a crime,” Alison Cordova, a lawyer for the family replied.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Wall said that a gun owner isn’t liable if their weapon is stolen and later used in a killing. The theft and the shooting of Steinle were “two independent criminal acts,” he said.

Steinle was shot July 1, 2015, by a Mexican nation in the country illegally four days after a BLM ranger’s gun was stolen from a parked car. Wall said the four-day gap was too long to blame the government for her death.

But Spero said he was weighing whether it was “unreasonable to leave the backpack in the car.”

The debate came during a hearing in a lawsuit Steinle’s family brought against BLM, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the city of San Francisco, claiming they are all liable for Steinle’s death. The family is seeking $25 million in damages.

The government wants the case dismissed. Spero said he would issue a written ruling on the matter but didn’t say when.

The suit also alleges that San Francisco violated its own sanctuary city rules by not notifying ICE that Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez that it was releasing him from jail after authorities dismissed a long-ago marijuana change. Lopez Sanchez had been deported five times and imprisoned for illegal entering the country. ICE is also liable for not knowing that Lopez Sanchez had been released so that it could deport him, the suit claims.

A 1992 amendment to the city’s sanctuary ordinance excludes protections for illegal immigrants with felony records, Frank Pitre, another Steinle family lawyer, told Spero.

Lopez Sanchez has seven felonies on his record.

But Assistant City Attorney Margaret Baumgartner argued the amendment was intended to create “an environment where illegal immigrants felt comfortable reporting crimes to the police department” without fear of deportation, not specifically removing felons from protection.

Most of Friday’s hearing was spent on the gun.

Cordova said the ranger, who has not been publicly identified, was “trained in how to secure his weapon. This was an egregious act by a law enforcement officer.”

Lopez Sanchez’s lawyers have said said he accidentally fired the pistol after he found it on the pier.

Earlier this year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation, inspired by Steinle’s killing, that requires police officers — like other gun owners — to lock up their weapons when they park their squad cars and personal vehicles. Under the new law, officers, could face an infraction and a $1,000 fine for leaving a weapon unsecured in a vehicle. Rep Mark DeSaulnier, D-Walnut Creek, has introduced similar federal legislation.

An investigation by this news organization revealed that law enforcement agents in California frequently lose possession of their weapons: More than 944 guns were lost or stolen from police since 2010, an alarming number that also helped propel Rep. Mark DeSaulnier to introduce similar legislation in Congress to crack down on cops who don’t safeguard their weapons in vehicles nationwide.

Steinle’s death came to national attention Just days into his presidential campaign, now President-elect Donald Trump leaped on the shooting as a reason why a wall should be built on the southern boarder and promised an aggressive deportation policy if elected. He even mentioned Steinle in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

Lopez Sanchez’s murder trial is scheduled for early next year.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/12/0...st-government/

The gun was stolen. There's no liability in my mind with the BLM ranger or BLM.

The liability is with the illegal alien and whoever released him from custody time after time after time.

He didn't "find the gun on the pier", he stole the gun out of a backpack from inside a vehicle.

What next? It was Kate's fault she on the pier in a sanctuary city? Didn't she know better?

Come On. The City of San Francisco is responsible for her death because they are the ones who released an illegal alien onto the streets. Their choice, their action, their result, their liability. Now move this case forward and nail it. No one cares about crooked police officers who want to release illegal aliens onto the streets to report crimes. We don't want our crimes reported by illegal aliens. If there weren't any illegal aliens in the US, there would be no crimes for them to report.

Make that award huge and send a giant message. You release 'em, they hurt someone or damage property, you're going down for millions and millions of dollars in liability.

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