Thread: Sole conviction against alleged killer of Kate Steinle overturned in California

Sole conviction against alleged killer of Kate Steinle overturned in California court

by Elle Bufkin


August 30, 2019 08:45 PM




The only conviction against a man accused of killing Kate Steinle in 2015 was overturned in the 1st District Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Friday.


Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate was accused of shooting Steinle while she was walking with her father and friend on the San Francisco waterfront. Garcia-Zarate, a Mexican national, was in the U.S. illegally at the time of the shooting. He had previously been deported five times, and it was not known when he reentered the country. Steinle was 32 at the time of her death.
Garcia-Zarate maintained that the shooting was accidental and that he did not mean to discharge the firearm he says he found wrapped in a T-shirt. The gun was stolen one week earlier from the parked car of a Bureau of Land Management ranger.


Garcia-Zarate was acquitted of all but one charge in November of 2017, more than two years after Steinle's death. The jury at the time found him "not guilty" of assault with a semi-automatic weapon, first and second-degree murder, and involuntary manslaughter. He was convicted only of being a felon in possession of a firearm.


That conviction was overturned on Friday when the California court found that a judge failed to instruct the jury on one of Garcia-Zarate's defenses. He will remain in custody while awaiting trial on federal gun charges.


The family of Steinle filed a wrongful death suit against San Francisco earlier this year alleging the city's status as an immigrant sanctuary unduly put their daughter at risk. The suit was dismissed by the lower court and that decision was upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The suit also named San Francisco County Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi as responsible for the death of Steinle.


The sheriff's office had Garcia-Zarate in custody just three months prior to the shooting but released him when the drug charges against him were dropped. The office ignored a request by federal authorities to hold Garcia-Zarate until they could take him into custody, an issue that became a flashpoint in the case.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...lifornia-court

California appeals court overturns sole conviction in Kate Steinle death

August 30, 2019.


Samuel Chamberlain hour ago


A California state appeals court Friday overturned the lone conviction against an undocumented immigrant who shot and killed Kate Steinle on the San Francisco waterfront in 2015, a case which drew national attention and became a flashpoint in the debate over illegal immigration.


Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate, who was in the U.S. illegally had been deported to his native Mexico five times, was acquitted in November 2017 of first and second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and assault with a semi-automatic weapon. He was convicted of one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.


On Friday, the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco overturned that conviction because the judge failed to give the jury the option of acquitting Garcia-Zarate on the theory he only possessed the weapon for a moment.


KATE STEINLE'S PARENTS CANNOT SUE SANCTUARY CITY FOR WRONGFUL DEATH, 9TH CIRCUIT RULES

Garcia-Zarate remains in custody and is facing federal charges of gun possession and being in the country illegally. His attorney, Tony Serra, told The Associated Press that trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 13 and added that the appeals court reversal will give state prosecutors the option to re-try Garcia-Zarate.

"That kind of error causes reversals all the time. Then the prosecution has the prerogative of going again," Serra said. "The state case is a heavier case because it's a homicide and a gun. ... It's going to be a big potential decision on what they're going to do."


Steinle, 32, died on July 1, 2015, after she was struck by a bullet while walking with her father and a family friend. Garcia-Zarate claimed he unwittingly picked up the gun, which was wrapped in a T-shirt, and it fired accidentally.


The gun belonged to a federal Bureau of Land Management ranger and was stolen from his parked car a week earlier.




Earlier this year, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Steinle's parents against San Francisco. The lawsuit maintained that the city’s so-called sanctuary policy and San Francisco County Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi bore responsibility for Steinle’s death.

Three months before the killing, Garcia-Zarate was released from custody after a drug case against him was dropped. The sheriff’s office, which had ended contact between jail employees and immigration officials, ignored a request by federal authorities to hold Garcia-Zarate until they could assume custody and did not inform them that he was being released.



Fox News' Elizabeth Zwirz and Elizabeth Llorente contributed to this report, along with The Associated Press.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/kate-stei...eals-court.amp

THIS IS OUTRAGES!!!

They should NOT be in our local courts and jails either.

Put these foreigners in Federal Tent City, on Federal Land, with a panel of Federal Judges!

No Jury...they are NOT our peers. They are not U.S. citizens!

This goes for all visa overstays, illegal aliens, non-citizens and foreigners that come to our country. They should have NO rights to our jury and court system.

Try these cases in a separate venue!