Kate Steinle Trial: No Verdict After Second Day of Deliberation
Kate Steinle was walking with her father and a family friend in July 2015 when she was shot, allegedly by Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who said he found the gun and it went off
By Janie Har ••
The criminal case against a Mexican man accused of killing a woman on a crowded San Francisco pier is coming to a close more than two years after setting off a national firestorm over immigration. Pete Suratos reports.
The criminal case against a Mexican man accused of killing a woman on a crowded San Francisco pier is coming to a close more than two years after setting off a national firestorm over immigration.
Jurors went home midday Wednesday without reaching a verdict and will resume deliberations Monday after the long holiday weekend. They must decide whether Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was a hapless homeless man who killed Kate Steinle in a freak accident or a calculated murderer playing a sick game.
Steinle was walking with her father and a family friend in July 2015 when she was shot, collapsing into her father's arms. Garcia Zarate had been released from the San Francisco jail about three months before the shooting, despite a request by federal immigration authorities to detain him for deportation.
Kathryn "Kate" Steinle was a 32-year-old medical device sales representative who was shot and killed in July 2015 after a man fired a gun at an unsuspecting crowd at San Francisco's Pier 14.
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Kathryn Steinle was taking a stroll with her father on San Francisco's Pier 14 on July 2015 when a bullet struck her back and ruptured a major artery. Father Cameron Faller (C), associate pastor at the Church of the Epiphany, conducted a prayer service at the site where 32-year-old Steinle was shot and killed by Francisco Sanchez.
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Steinle's father attempted to give her mouth to mouth until the paramedics arrived, but she died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Steinle's last words were "Dad, help me. Help me," according to a prosecutor on the trial.
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(L-R) Attorney Frank Pitre speaks as Brad Steinle, Liz Sullivan and Jim Steinle, look on during a news conference on September 1, 2015 in San Francisco, California. The family of Kate Steinle who was killed by an undocumented immigrant, have filed claims against San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, the Bureau of Land Management and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their role in their daughter's death. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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(R-L) Brad Steinle, Liz Sullivan and Jim Steinle, the family of Kate Steinle who was killed by an undocumented immigrant, look on during a news conference on September 1, 2015, in San Francisco, California. The criminal case against the Mexican man accused of killing Steinle set off a national firestorm over immigration.
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An attorney holds the copy of a claim filed against the Bureau of Land Management for their role in the death of Kate Steinle who was killed by an undocumented immigrant using a stolen BLM officer's gun, during a news conference on September 1, 2015 in San Francisco, California. The family of Kate Steinle who was killed by an undocumented immigrant, have filed claims against San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, the Bureau of Land Management and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their role in their daughter's death. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Jose Ines Garcia Zarate pleaded not guilty to charges that he shot and killed 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle as she walked on Pier 14 in San Francisco with her father the week before. The defense argued that the 40-caliber Sig Sauer pistol went off accidentally after finding it under his seat on the pier.
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Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, right, enters court for an arraignment with San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi, left, on July 2015, in San Francisco, California. He was 'playing his own version of Russian roulette' when he fired into a crowd.
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San Francisco public defender chief attorney Matt Gonzalez compared pulling the trigger of the Sig Sauer to be the same as that of a squirt gun. He continued to argue that his client "had no motive; he didn't know Ms. Steinle."
Jeff Chiu/AP
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon arrives at a courthouse in San Francisco, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. A trial begins for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a Mexican national who set off a country-wide immigration debate after he fatally shot Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier on July 1, 2015.
Eric Risberg/AP
Jim Steinle, center, and Liz Sullivan, right, the parents of Kate Steinle, walk to a court room for closing arguments in the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate accused of killing their daughter, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017, in San Francisco. Jose Ines Garcia Zarate had been deported five times and was wanted for a sixth deportation when Kate Steinle was fatally shot in the back while walking with her father on the pier.
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Matt Gonzalez, chief attorney of the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, speaks to reporters at a courthouse in San Francisco.
Jeff Chiu/AP
In this Oct. 23, 2017 photo, Matt Gonzalez, chief attorney of the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, speaks to reporters at a courthouse in San Francisco. The bullet that killed Kate Steinle two years ago ricocheted off the ground about 100 yards away before hitting her in the back, later launching a criminal case at the center of a national immigration debate. Lawyers for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate argue that the ricochet shows the shooting was accidental.
Eric Risberg/AP
San Francisco Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia walks to a courtroom for closing arguments in the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate accused of killing Kate Steinle, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017, in San Francisco. Garcia argued that the gun gave Garcia Zarate power and that if it was an accident, "why didn't he say so?"
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A large photo of Kathryn "Kate" Steinle who was killed by an illegal immigrant in San Francisco, is shown while her dad Jim Steinle testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, July 21, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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Liz Sullivan (C) mother of Kathryn "Kate" Steinle is comforted while her son Brad Steinle (R) sits nearby during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, July 21, 2015 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony from family members who have had loved ones killed by illegal immigrants. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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Jim Steinle, father of Kathryn "Kate" Steinle who was killed by an illegal immigrant in San Francisco, arrives to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, July 21, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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Brad Steinle, brother of Kathryn Steinle, hugs a victims family member during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, July 21, 2015 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony from family members who have had loved ones killed by illegal immigrants. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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(L-R) Brad Steinle, Liz Sullivan and Jim Steinle look on during a news conference on September 1, 2015, in San Francisco, California. The family of Kate Steinle who was killed by an undocumented immigrant, have filed claims against San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, the Bureau of Land Management and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their role in their daughter's death. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Liz Sullivan and Jim Steinle, the parents of Kate Steinle speak during a news conference on September 1, 2015, in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Jim Steinle looks on during a news conference on September 1, 2015 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Brad Steinle, (L) is comforted by his father Jim Steinle (R) as he speaks during a news conference on September 1, 2015 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Brad Steinle, brother of Kate Steinle speaks during a news conference on September 1, 2015 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Riya Bhattacharjee/NBC Bay Area
The murder trial started Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate who sparked a national immigration debate after he shot and killed Kate Steinle two years ago at Pier 14.
Surveillance footage shown in court appears to show Garcia Zarate in the fatal shooting of Steinle throwing something in the water and leaving the scene after she is struck. (Oct. 26, 2017)
In the trial, prosecutors show jurors a video of a police interview with Garcia Zarate where he appears to confess to the murder and then contradicts himself. (Nov. 1, 2017)
The defense walks out of the courtroom as the crowd tries to read into every movement after resting their case. (Nov. 9, 2017)
Riya Bhattacharjee/NBC Bay Area
Judge Samuel Feng leaves out cookies for reporters every day in the hallway. When asked about the verdict in the SteinleTrial he says “No comment.” (Nov. 29, 2017)
He had been deported five times and was wanted for a sixth deportation.
Steinle's death put San Francisco's "sanctuary city" policy in the spotlight, as Democrats and Republicans lashed out at city officials for refusing to cooperate with federal deportation efforts.
During the presidential race, then-candidate Donald Trump cited the killing as a reason to toughen U.S. immigration policies. Trump later signed an executive order to cut funding from cities that limit cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities, a policy that a federal judge in San Francisco permanently blocked Monday.
But the politics of immigration were not allowed to come up in the monthlong trial.
San Francisco Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia said in her closing rebuttal Tuesday that she didn't know why Garcia Zarate fired the weapon, but he created a risk of death by bringing the firearm to the pier that day and twirling around on a chair for at least 20 minutes before he fired.
She said he then ran away while other people tried to figure out what had happened. The bullet ricocheted on the pier's concrete walkway before it struck Steinle.
"He did kill someone. He took the life of a young, vibrant, beautiful, cherished woman by the name of Kate Steinle," she said.
Defense attorney Matt Gonzalez said in his closing remarks Tuesday that he knows it's difficult to believe Garcia Zarate found an object that turned out to be a weapon that fired when he picked it up.
But he told jurors that Garcia Zarate had no motivation to kill Steinle and as awful as her death was, "nothing you do is going to fix that."
He urged jurors, who received the case Tuesday, to pick apart the facts of the case, instead of swallowing a ludicrous narrative by the prosecution that relied on circumstantial evidence. Garcia called the defense's argument just as implausible and told the jury to look at the entire picture.
The semi-automatic handgun used to kill Steinle was stolen from a federal Bureau of Land Management ranger a week before the shooting.
Before the shooting, Garcia Zarate had finished a federal prison sentence for illegal re-entry into the United States and was transferred in March 2015 to San Francisco's jail to face a 20-year-old charge for selling marijuana.
The sheriff's department released him a few days later after the district attorney dropped the marijuana charge, despite a request from federal immigration officials to detain him for deportation.
