Man to be sentenced in Steinle case

Felon acquitted in Pier 14 killing guilty on gun charge

A homeless undocumented immigrant acquitted of killing Kate Steinle on San Francisco’s Pier 14 is scheduled to be sentenced on a lesser gun charge Friday in San Francisco Superior Court.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter in the July 1, 2015, killing, but was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Garcia Zarate, 45, was arrested and jailed shortly after Steinle’s death and likely has enough credits for time served to cover the sentence.

But rather than being released, Garcia Zarate will be turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service, Sheriff’s Department officials said.

That’s because five days after he was acquitted in Steinle’s killing on Nov. 30, a federal grand jury indicted Garcia Zarate on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and being an undocumented immigrant in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

He will be represented by well-known San Francisco attorney J. Tony Serra on the federal gun charges. Garcia Zarate faces up to 10 years in federal prison before deportation if convicted.

Serra defended notorious Chinatown gangster Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, who was found guilty of racketeering and murder and sentenced to

life.

Serra is currently defending Derick Almena, the leader of the Ghost Ship warehouse that burned on Dec. 2, 2016, killing 36 people. Almena and his sidekick, Max Harris, face 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the fire.

Matt Gonzalez, the attorney in the San Francisco public defender’s office who is Garcia Zarate’s attorney in the state case, said his client “couldn’t be in better hands” with Serra.

Before Friday’s sentencing, Judge Samuel Feng will rule on a motion for a new trial on the gun charge filed in December by Gonzalez.

In his motion, Gonzalez argued that Feng failed to properly instruct the jury on facts regarding the possession of the gun and didn’t explain that “momentary” possession is not necessarily a crime.

Gonzalez also said Feng made a mistake in not allowing the use of a jailhouse interview Garcia Zarate did with a local TV station after his arrest.

The district attorney’s office filed a rebuttal to the motion on Tuesday.

Friday’s hearing comes as the latest turn in the twisting saga of Garcia Zarate, whose arrest drew national attention and debate over San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy.

Garcia Zarate was on track for a sixth deportation when he was released from federal prison in Southern California on a conviction of felony re-entry into the country.

He was instead brought to San Francisco to face a 20-year-old warrant for possession of marijuana — a charge that was immediately dismissed. Garcia Zarate was subsequently released from San Francisco Jail under the city’s sanctuary policy in April 2015.

Gonzalez argued that Steinle’s killing was unintentional and said Garcia Zarate found the gun wrapped in a cloth under a bench on Pier 14 and it went off accidentally. The Sig Sauer pistol had been stolen four days earlier from a federal agent’s car along the Embarcadero.

Evidence presented at trial showed the bullet ricocheted off the pier before hitting Steinle in the heart and killing her.

Then-candidate Donald Trump used the case to argue for a stricter immigration policy. Trump, now president, called the verdict “disgraceful” in a tweet following Garcia Zarate’s acquittal on the homicide charges.