The Latest: Defense relieved by pier-killing reversal
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Latest on a court overturning the sole conviction against an immigrant who fatally shot a woman on a San Francisco pier in 2015. (all times local):
5:45 p.m.
The public defender who represented an immigrant who fatally shot a woman on the San Francisco waterfront in 2015 says he is gratified an appeals court reversed his conviction on a single gun charge.
The 1st District Court of Appeal on Friday overturned a gun conviction against Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate because the judge failed to instruct the jury on his defense that he only momentarily possessed the gun.
Garcia-Zarate was acquitted of murder in the killing of Kate Steinle, who was on a pier with her father when she was shot in the back in July 2015.
Public defender Matt Gonzalez says he believes the jury would have acquitted Garcia-Zarate if it had been properly instructed.
Garcia-Zarate is being held in federal custody as he awaits a January trial on gun possession charges in the same case.
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4:35 p.m.
A California state appeals court has thrown out the sole conviction against an immigrant who fatally shot a woman on the San Francisco waterfront in 2015.
The 1st District Court of Appeal on Friday overturned a gun conviction against Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate because the judge failed to instruct the jury on one of his defenses.
Garcia-Zarate was acquitted of murder in the killing of Kate Steinle, who was on a pier with her father when she was shot in the back in July 2015.
The case of Garcia-Zarate, who was in the country illegally and had been deported five times, touched off a fierce immigration debate.
He said he unwittingly picked up the gun wrapped in a T-shirt and it fired accidentally.
Garcia-Zarate is in custody and facing federal gun charges.
