Murder trial begins for ‘Kate’s Law’ suspect
Undocumented immigrant had been deported five times
A murder trial opened Monday in San Francisco against an undocumented Mexican immigrant charged with killing a woman in a case that highlighted a disconnect in immigration enforcement measures and fueled calls for President Trump’s border wall.
Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, 54, is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Kate Steinle, 32. She was shot in the back on July 1, 2015, as she posed for pictures with her father on a pier in San Francisco.
In court appearances, Zarate has replied “not guilty” repeatedly in English and Spanish. His lawyer, Matt Gonzalez, said Monday outside court that the defendant wasn’t criminally responsible because he found the
.40-caliber Sig Sauer and wasn’t aware it was a gun when it accidentally went off.
But prosecutors have portrayed Zarate, who faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison, as a danger.
“This was an act of random violence,” Assistant District Attorney Diana Garcia said in 2015.
Zarate became a lightning rod for complaints about illegal immigration even before the trial began. He had been deported five times before the shooting, most recently in 2009.
His criminal history dated to
1991, with seven non-violent felony convictions, including four narcotics charges.
Before last year’s presidential election, Trump tweeted that the case illustrated the need for a border wall.
Another aspect of the case deals with “sanctuary cities,” which don’t recognize some federal immigration orders.
San Francisco became a sanctuary city in 1989. A local ordi- nance prohibited employees from helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement with immigration investigations or arrests “unless such help is required by federal or state law or a warrant.”
Zarate most recently served five years in a federal prison in Victorville, Calif. When he was released, ICE sent him to San Francisco on March 26, 2015, for a 1995 warrant accusing him of selling $20 worth of marijuana.
ICE also requested an immigration detainer so the agency would be notified if he was released.
The charges were dropped the next day. On April 15, 2015, Zarate was freed from the San Francisco County Jail. Freya Horne, chief legal counsel to the county sheriff who runs the jail, told CNN that he was let go because there was no legal cause to detain the suspect.
At the time, former sheriff Ross Mirkarimi defended releasing Zarate, who was held two weeks longer than required by the department’s rules, but ICE hadn’t placed a warrant or court order against Zarate.
The House passed what has become known as Kate’s Law in June, and it is pending in the Senate. The bill would increase penalties for undocumented immigrants who repeatedly enter the country.