Jurors called for Pier 14 slaying case

Jury selection began Monday in the trial stemming from the killing of Kate Steinle on San Francisco’s Pier 14, as prosecutors prepare to argue the shooting was murder and defense attorneys aim to prove it was an accident.

Steinle’s death at age 32 on July 1, 2105, ignited a national debate over immigration policies and sanctuary cities. The alleged shooter, Mexican citizen Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, was freed from San Francisco jail 2½ months before the killing, even though federal immigration agents had sought to take custody of him and deport him for a sixth time.

But jurors will be focused on Zarate’s actions on the pier, not on the 54-year-old defendant‘s immigration history or the city’s sanctuary policies.

With at least 1,000 potential jurors summoned to San Francisco Superior Court, the focus Monday was on narrowing the field to those who could sit through a lengthy trial — not who could best decide the fate of Zarate, also known as Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez.

Potential jurors filled out questionnaires to identify any conflicts, logistical or moral. But voir dire, the process in which attorneys question people in the jury pool, is not expected to begin until Oct. 16.

Few San Francisco criminal trials have been as politically controversial as the Pier 14 case, which became a lightning rod for anti-immigrant rhetoric that helped President Trump win the election.

One challenge is finding jurors who can see past, or set aside, the immigration issues, and decide the case purely based on the law and on what happened on the waterfront.

Zarate had been on track for a sixth deportation when the shooting occurred, after serving 46 months in prison for felony re-entry into the country. He admitted to handling the gun that fired the round that struck Steinle in the back and pierced her heart as she strolled along the Embarcadero with her arm around her father.

The gun had been stolen from a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger’s car four days earlier in the city; Zarate, who was homeimmigration less, said he found the weapon wrapped in a T-shirt under a bench. The burglary remains unsolved.

Defense 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.

Under the city’s sanctuary policies, Zarate was released from the San Francisco jail before the shooting rather than being turned over to agents. The case sparked a push against the policies that enabled his release, and in June, the House of Representatives passed “Kate’s Law,” legislation that would significantly boost punishment for people who repeatedly enter the U.S. illegally.

San Francisco has fought efforts to punish cities with sanctuary policies, saying the law makes the community safer and more equitable because immigrants feel comfortable taking part in society and working with authorities, including as witnesses to crimes.