Jury being picked in politically hot Steinle shooting

Attorneys in San Francisco on Monday began questioning prospective jurors for one of San Francisco’s most notorious murder cases: the killing of 32-year-old Kate Steinle by an undocumented homeless man.

It’s a widely discussed case that President Trump used in his campaign to argue that Americans have been unsafe due to lax immigration enforcement in San Francisco and other sanctuary cities.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are seeking to impanel a group of people who can look beyond the political implications of the case and decide, on the facts alone, the fate of Jose Ines

Garcia Zarate, a Mexican citizen who was wanted for deportation by federal agents when his San Francisco jailers set him free 2½ months before the shooting.

He is accused of firing a gun on Pier 14 on July 1, 2015. The single bullet pierced Steinle’s back as she took a stroll with her arm around her father. Police arrested Zarate, who previously went by the name Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, and he admitted handling the gun that fired the round.

“Would anyone here be unwilling to return a verdict if they knew the president of the United States wouldn’t like it?” Matt Gonzalez, an attorney for Zarate, asked prospective jurors who packed the sweltering courtroom. Some laughed, though some uneasily, at Gonzalez’s remark.

Zarate had been on track for a sixth deportation after serving 46 months in prison for felony re-entry into the country.

The case sparked a push against the policies that enabled his release, with the House of Representatives passing “Kate’s Law” in June — legislation that would significantly boost punishment for people who repeatedly enter the U.S. illegally.

San Francisco has fought back, saying sanctuary laws benefit public safety by ensuring that immigrants, including witnesses to crimes, feel comfortable working with authorities.

On Monday, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Samuel K. Feng told the prospective jurors that sanctuary city policies would not be an issue that would be decided in this case, and Assistant District Attorney Diana Garcia began her questioning by stating that she was “the daughter of Spanish-speaking immigrants.”

“A lot of you are angry that this has been used to promote a political agenda that you do not agree with,” she said. “I’m here to tell you that that will not be a part of the case.”

While both the prosecution and the defense were adamant that Zarate’s immigration status would play no role in the case, their questions indicated that the issue of gun control will arise during trial.

The gun used in Steinle’s killing 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.

His attorneys say the shooting was an accident, with the bullet ricocheting off the ground before striking Steinle. Gonzalez had previously implied that he planned to call several gun experts to testify that the .40-caliber Sig Sauer semiautomatic pistol used in the shooting was prone to accidental discharges. The Bureau of Land Management ranger who owned the gun is scheduled to testify.

Prosecutors charged Zarate with second-degree murder because he either aimed the gun at Steinle or recklessly fired the weapon in a crowded area. On Monday, Garcia noted that most of the prospective jurors stated on their questionnaires that they were anti-gun, with one going so far as saying that law enforcement shouldn’t even be allowed to carry firearms.

Beyond the gun, Garcia’s and Gonzalez’s questions highlighted their concerns about the case. Garcia asked the prospective jurors if they felt they could decide a case where “there are no eyewitnesses to the shooting itself,” while Gonzalez asked if they could look past the “emotional component” that Steinle was an innocent bystander who essentially died in the arms of her father.

“Does anyone here believe that if someone died innocently that someone has to be punished for it?” he asked.

The questioning of jurors continues Tuesday.