California Appeals Court Reverses Sole Conviction Against Illegal Immigrant in Kate Steinle Case

California Appeals Court Reverses Sole Conviction Against Illegal Immigrant in Kate Steinle Case
Kate Steinle and Ines Jose Garcia-Zarate. Facebook, SFPD
The Associated Press
Updated:

SAN FRANCISCO—A California state appeals court on Friday, Aug. 30, threw out the sole conviction against an illegal immigrant who fatally shot a young woman on the San Francisco waterfront in 2015 in a case that sparked a national immigration debate.

Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate was acquitted of murder in the killing of Kate Steinle, who was walking on a pier with her father when she was struck by a bullet in the back in July 2015. The appeals court overturned a single conviction on a charge of being a felon in possession of a gun.

The case against Garcia-Zarate, who was in the country illegally and had been deported five times, was a regular talking point in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential stump speeches.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli tweeted late Aug. 30: “Kate Steinle was tragically killed because San Francisco proudly proclaims itself a sanctuary city. How many more innocents will die b4 sanctuary cities stop harboring violent criminals? This defies common sense, public safety, & human decency.”

The 1st District Court of Appeal overturned the gun 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.

The ruling means prosecutors have the choice of retrying him in San Francisco Superior Court on the single count, but it may have little real impact because Garcia-Zarate remains in custody facing related federal charges.

Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez (R) is lead into the courtroom by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi (L) and Assistant District Attorney Diana Garcia (C), for his arraignment at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco. Lopez-Sanchez, an illegal immigrant with seven felony convictions in the U.S. and previously deported to Mexico five times, fatally shot 32-year-old Kate Steinle on July 1. (Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez (R) is lead into the courtroom by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi (L) and Assistant District Attorney Diana Garcia (C), for his arraignment at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco. Lopez-Sanchez, an illegal immigrant with seven felony convictions in the U.S. and previously deported to Mexico five times, fatally shot 32-year-old Kate Steinle on July 1. Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle via AP

Garcia-Zarate said he unwittingly picked up the gun wrapped in a T-shirt, and it fired accidentally. The bullet ricocheted off a concrete walkway and struck Steinle, who was with her father and a family friend.

The weapon used in the shooting belonged to a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger who reported it stolen from his car parked in San Francisco.

Defense lawyers argued on appeal that because Garcia-Zarate held the gun for such a short moment, he couldn’t be convicted of illegal gun possession.

Prosecutors argued that the jury instruction lapse was harmless because Garcia-Zarate admitted firing the gun and experts said he couldn’t do so without pulling the trigger.

A photo of murder victim Kate Steinle is placed on an easel as her father Jim Steinle (2nd L) prepares to testify about her murder during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on immigration enforcement policies, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 21, 2015. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
A photo of murder victim Kate Steinle is placed on an easel as her father Jim Steinle (2nd L) prepares to testify about her murder during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on immigration enforcement policies, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 21, 2015. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

The court disagreed, saying the jury’s verdict showed they rejected the prosecution theory that the shooting was intentional or even negligent and they had asked the judge to define possession and whether there was a time requirement for possession.

“These questions go to the heart of the momentary possession defense,” Justice Sandra Margulies wrote in the 3-0 decision. “The fact the jury asked whether there was a time requirement for possession suggests jurors were wrestling with how long defendant had the gun.”

Public defender Matt Gonzalez, who argued the case before the jury, said the improper instruction meant that Garcia-Zarate did not get a fair trial.

“This really wasn’t a close call. We were entitled to the instruction, and we should’ve had it. We thought that Mr. Garcia-Zarate would have been acquitted had the jury been instructed this way, so this is very gratifying for us,” he said. “He picked up an object not knowing what it was, it fired, and he threw it to the ground when it did fire.”

Flowers and a portrait of Kate Steinle remain at a memorial site on Pier 14 in San Francisco, on July 17, 2015. (Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Flowers and a portrait of Kate Steinle remain at a memorial site on Pier 14 in San Francisco, on July 17, 2015. Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP

Garcia-Zarate, who was facing deportation proceedings at the time of his arrest in the killing, had been released by county jail officials three months before the tragic event.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had requested that the Sheriff’s Department inform them of his release date and hold him until they could pick him up. But San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy barred local law enforcement officials from cooperating with most federal immigration investigations.

Trump referred to the shooting on the campaign trail as he railed on sanctuary cities and argued for tougher immigration policies.

After the acquittal in 2017, Trump called the verdict in “disgraceful” in a Tweet, and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions blamed the sanctuary city policy for Steinle’s death.

Garcia-Zarate was sentenced to three years in prison on the gun charge, but he ended up serving no additional time because of time he spent behind bars awaiting trial.

He was taken into custody, however, on federal charges, where he awaits trial Jan. 13 for gun possession.

Tony Serra, the attorney who is representing Garcia-Zarate on federal charges, said the state reversal means the district attorney will have the option of re-trying Garcia-Zarate on the gun charge.

“That kind of error causes reversals all the time. Then the prosecution has the prerogative of going again,” Serra said. “It’s going to be a big potential decision on what they’re going to do.”

Gonzalez said in a typical case it would not be likely for prosecutors to retry a defendant on a charge for which he cannot serve any more jail time, but “given the political nature of the case, it’s anybody’s guess as to what they will do.”

The San Francisco district attorney’s office was weighing its options, spokesman Alex Bastian said. The state attorney general’s office, which argued the case on appeal, also said on Aug. 30 it was reviewing the case.

By Juliet Williams
Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.