10-24-2017, 12:57 PM
TRIAL
The trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate is now underway.
![[Image: Kate_Steinle_s_father_takes_witness_stan...40_360.jpg]](http://media.ktvu.com/media.ktvu.com/photo/2017/10/23/Kate_Steinle_s_father_takes_witness_stan_0_4399042_ver1.0_640_360.jpg)
He's charged with the second-degree murder of ^ Kathryn Steinle in 2015.
Garcia Zarate was a homeless undocumented immigrant who'd just been released from jail after San Francisco police dropped 20-year old marijuana possession charges against him (ignoring the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold onto him).
Garcia Zarate found .40 caliber Sig Sauer P226 pistol wrapped in a t-shirt under a bench on Pier 14. The gun had been stolen from the car of a San Francisco Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officer.
Garcia Zarate first reportedly told police he was shooting at sea lions. But, when he was interviewed by reporters, he said he didn't mean to pull the trigger or hit Steinle, that he'd taken sleeping pills found in a dumpster and the gun just went off when he was handling it. Three bullets were fired. The Defense will claim that the gun has a hair trigger and wasn't locked when Garcia Zarate got his hands on it.
The autopsy and a ballistic experts indicated that Steinle was likely hit by a bullet that ricocheted off the ground. But, the prosecution now contends that Steinle was shot on purpose and will present experts to testify that the gun-type can't go off accidentally, it requires trigger pull pressure.
(continued)
The trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate is now underway.
He's charged with the second-degree murder of ^ Kathryn Steinle in 2015.
Garcia Zarate was a homeless undocumented immigrant who'd just been released from jail after San Francisco police dropped 20-year old marijuana possession charges against him (ignoring the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold onto him).
Garcia Zarate found .40 caliber Sig Sauer P226 pistol wrapped in a t-shirt under a bench on Pier 14. The gun had been stolen from the car of a San Francisco Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officer.
Garcia Zarate first reportedly told police he was shooting at sea lions. But, when he was interviewed by reporters, he said he didn't mean to pull the trigger or hit Steinle, that he'd taken sleeping pills found in a dumpster and the gun just went off when he was handling it. Three bullets were fired. The Defense will claim that the gun has a hair trigger and wasn't locked when Garcia Zarate got his hands on it.
The autopsy and a ballistic experts indicated that Steinle was likely hit by a bullet that ricocheted off the ground. But, the prosecution now contends that Steinle was shot on purpose and will present experts to testify that the gun-type can't go off accidentally, it requires trigger pull pressure.
(continued)