Selection of jury in Steinle killing to begin
Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the San Francisco murder case that sparked a national uproar over immigration policies and sanctuary cities.
The Superior Court has summoned at least 1,000 potential jurors for the case, seeking to impanel a group of people who will decide the fate of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a Mexican citizen who was wanted for deportation by federal agents before he was accused of shooting and killing 32-year-old Kate Steinle on Pier 14 on July 1, 2015.
According to the public defender’s office, which is representing the 54-year-old defendant, that’s significantly more potential jurors than are summoned to a typical trial in San Francisco.
But the case, which raised questions about San Francisco’s sanctuary policies and became a lightning rod for the anti-immigrant rhetoric that helped launch President Trump into the White House, is far from typical. And experts say picking a jury won’t be easy.
“In this case, there are going to be a lot of questions asked of jurors, not just of their knowledge of the case but generally their feelings on
immigration, immigrants and undocumented people,” said Rory Little, a former federal prosecutor who is a professor of law at UC Hastings. “You are trying to find people who will not bring a preconceived bias into the courtroom.”
The case that must be decided in court isn’t about immigration, but what happened on Pier 14.
Steinle was strolling along the city’s Embarcadero with her arm around her father when a bullet pierced her back. Police arrested Zarate, who previously went by the name Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, and he admitted to handling the gun that fired the round.
The gun had been stolen from a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger’s car four days earlier in the city, and Zarate, who was homeless, said he found the weapon wrapped in a T-shirt under a bench, according to his attorneys. The burglary remains unsolved.
The attorneys say the shooting was an accident, with the bullet ricocheting off the ground before striking Steinle, but prosecutors say he committed murder because he either aimed the gun at Steinle or recklessly fired the weapon in a crowded area.
Zarate had been on track for a sixth deportation after serving 46 months in prison for felony re-entry into the country. But, under the city’s sanctuary policies, he was released from the San Francisco jail 2½ months before the shooting rather than being turned over to immigration agents.
The case sparked a push against the policies that enabled his release, and San Francisco has fought back, saying sanctuary laws benefit public safety by ensuring that immigrants feel comfortable working with authorities, including as witnesses to crimes.
The House of Representatives passed Kate’s Law in June, legislation that would significantly boost punishment for people who repeatedly enter the U.S. illegally.
Little said San Francisco’s liberal reputation won’t make jury selection any easier.
“I think there are plenty of people in San Francisco who harbor biases in all directions, but the harder part is trying to get people to admit to this,” Little said. “The challenge for the lawyers here is to ask questions that are indirect that will give them enough information so they can make the best guess as to who is harboring what — questions like what your favorite television show is, or if you ever had a housekeeper who was undocumented. There’s a lot of sensitivity here.”
In an odd twist, one of Zarate’s attorneys, Francisco Ugarte, was summoned for jury duty Monday. He said he is unsure whether he is being called for his own case, but if he is, he will claim a conflict.