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By Samuel Chamberlain | Fox News August 30th, 2019 "A California state appeals court Friday overturned the lone conviction against an undocumented immigrant who shot and killed Kate Steinle on the San Francisco waterfront in 2015, a case which drew national attention and became a flashpoint in the debate over illegal immigration. Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate, who was in the U.S. illegally had been deported to his native Mexico five times, was acquitted in November 2017 of first and second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and assault with a semi-automatic weapon. He was convicted of one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. On Friday [8/31/2019], the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco overturned that conviction because the judge failed to give the jury the option of acquitting Garcia-Zarate on the theory he only possessed the weapon for a moment. Prosecutors argued that the jury instruction lapse was harmless because Garcia-Zarate admitted firing the gun and experts said he couldn't do so without pulling the trigger. The court disagreed, saying the jury's verdict showed they rejected the prosecution theory that the shooting was intentional or even negligent and they had asked the judge to define possession and whether there was a time requirement for possession. "These questions go to the heart of the momentary possession defense," Justice Sandra Margulies wrote in the 3-0 decision. "The fact the jury asked whether there was a time requirement for possession suggests jurors were wrestling with how long [the] defendant had the gun." Garcia-Zarate remains in custody and is facing federal charges of gun possession and being in the country illegally. His attorney, Tony Serra, told The Associated Press that trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 13 and added that the appeals court reversal will give prosecutors the option to re-try Garcia-Zarate. "That kind of error causes reversals all the time. Then the prosecution has the prerogative of going again," Serra said. "The state case is a heavier case because it's a homicide and a gun. ... It's going to be a big potential decision on what they're going to do." The San Francisco district attorney's office was weighing its options, spokesman Alex Bastian said. Steinle, 32, died on July 1, 2015, after she was struck by a bullet while walking with her father and a family friend. Garcia-Zarate claimed he unwittingly picked up the gun, which was wrapped in a T-shirt, and it fired accidentally. The gun belonged to a federal Bureau of Land Management ranger and was stolen from his parked car a week earlier. Earlier this year, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Steinle's parents against San Francisco. The lawsuit maintained that the city’s so-called sanctuary policy and San Francisco County Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi bore responsibility for Steinle’s death. Three months before the killing, Garcia-Zarate was released from custody after a drug case against him was dropped. The sheriff’s office, which had ended contact between jail employees and immigration officials, ignored a request by federal authorities to hold Garcia-Zarate until they could assume custody and did not inform them that he was being released. The case against Garcia-Zarate was a regular talking point in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential stump speeches. "Kate Steinle was tragically killed because San Francisco proudly proclaims itself a sanctuary city," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli tweeted Friday night. "How many more innocents will die b4 [before] sanctuary cities stop harboring violent criminals? This defies common sense, public safety, & human decency. #NoJustice." Fox News' Elizabeth Zwirz and Elizabeth Llorente contributed to this report, along with The Associated Press. Source: www.foxnews.com/us/kate-steinle-jose-inez-garcia-zarate-california-appeals-court By Elizabeth Llorente | Fox News Published March 28, 2019 "A U.S. Appeals Court says the parents of Kate Steinle, who died in 2015 after an undocumented man shot her as she walked with her father on a San Francisco pier, cannot sue the city whose sanctuary policies were widely blamed for the tragedy. Steinle’s killer, Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate, was released by the San Francisco sheriff, Ross Mirkarimi, after a drug case against him was dropped. The sheriff’s office, which had ended contact between jail employees and immigration officials, ignored a request by federal authorities to hold Garcia-Zarate until they could assume custody and did not inform them that he was being released. Three months later, Garcia-Zarate, who had been deported to his native Mexico five times, killed Steinle. The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously decided to uphold a district court’s 2017 dismissal of Steinle’s parents’ wrongful death lawsuit against San Francisco. The lawsuit maintained that the city’s so-called sanctuary policy and the sheriff bore responsibility for their daughter’s death because it had enabled Garcia-Zarate to roam the streets. In the 9th Circuit Court decision, Judge Mark Bennett, who was nominated by President Trump, said that while the facts of the case are “undeniably tragic,” the sheriff was well within his authority when he issued a memo that limited his department’s cooperation with immigration officials. “The tragic and unnecessary death of Steinle may well underscore the policy argument against Sheriff Mirkarimi’s decision to bar his employees from providing the release date of a many times convicted felon to ICE,” Bennett said. “But that policy argument can be acted upon only by California’s state and municipal political branches of government, or perhaps by Congress.” Federal immigration laws cited by the plaintiffs also did not require Mirkarimi to provide Garcia-Zarate’s release date, Bennett said. The shooting turned into a major campaign issue in multiple national and local races across the country. Trump repeatedly referred to the shooting during his 2016 campaign to bolster his argument for tougher immigration policies and his opposition to so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with immigration officials. Groups that support tougher immigration enforcement assailed the appeals court’s decision. Matthew O’Brien, director of research for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told Fox News that the decision marked “yet another example of judicial activism by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.” “San Francisco’s prohibition on the sharing of information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was a deliberate and intentional violation of federal law,” O’Brien said. “Overall, the handling of the Steinle matter, by both the courts of the State of California and the federal courts within California, sends a clear message that the Golden State is more interested in sheltering criminal illegal aliens from ICE than it is in protecting the life and safety of U.S. citizens.” A San Francisco jury in 2017 acquitted Garcia-Zarate of murder, but convicted him of illegal gun possession. Garcia-Zarate said a gun he found on the pier accidentally fired when he picked it up. The gun belonged to a federal Bureau of Land Management ranger and was stolen from his parked car a week earlier. The bullet ricocheted on the pier's concrete walkway before it struck Steinle, killing her. Zarate has admitted to shooting Steinle, but says it was an accident. However, the prosecution painted a very different picture, telling jurors that Zarate deliberately shot the gun towards Steinle while "playing his own secret version of Russian roulette." Garcia-Zarate is also facing federal gun charges to which he has pleaded not guilty. The gun used in the fatal shooting belonged to a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger who reported it stolen from his car parked in San Francisco. Steinle’s parents also named the federal government as a defendant in their lawsuit because the ranger had allegedly left the gun in plain view in an unlocked car on a downtown street. That part of the lawsuit is moving forward. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Source: www.foxnews.com/us/kate-steinles-parents-cannot-sue-sanctuary-city-for-wrongful-death-9th-circuit-rules Mark Krikorian: "The murder of Jared Vargas in San Antonio by an illegal alien is even more directly the result of policy failures than that of Mollie Tibbetts, but it has gotten little attention because authorities reportedly asked family not to say anything." Rep. Chip Roy (21st Congressional District of Texas): "My constituents and colleagues have heard me tell the story of Jared Vargas, a young man from my district with so much going for him whose life was needlessly taken at the hands of an illegal immigrant." And, of course, the mainstream media covered it up, as they have covered up 63,000 Americans killed by illegal aliens since 9/11/2001 alone. CIS.org: "A Clean Media Miss: The Murder of San Antonio College Student Jared Vargas by an Illegal Immigrant.... those who survived the June 2018 murder of 20-year-old college student Jared Vargas in San Antonio, Texas, have yet to be inducted as angel families or to see any similar national media attention about their loss, as officials in the sanctuary city of San Antonio reportedly asked them not to speak out. Through strictly local media reporting that has gained no traction beyond the Alamo City, some details have emerged about the “homicidal violence” that killed Vargas and the subsequent arrest of an illegally present Mexican national. Timeline: March 1, 2017 — Esquivel-Garcia is arrested for drunken driving; ICE places an immigration detainer on him and begins removal proceedings. April 2017 — An immigration judge allows bond; Esquivel-Garcia bonds out. January 2018 — Esquivel-Garcia receives 12 months’ probation related to the original drunken driving matter. He was required to comply with a number of probation conditions, as is routine. May 10, 2018 — Warrant for Esquivel-Garcia's arrest issued for violating conditions of his release; he is not immediately arrested. May 21, 2018 — The removal proceedings begun in March 2017 finish up. Esquivel-Garcia a "voluntary departure" order to leave by July 20, 2018, which is a status meaning he won't be precluded from future legal applications to enter if he leaves as scheduled. He has to pay a departure bond to go along with this. May 25, 2018 — Esquivel-Garcia arrested by ICE for outstanding warrant issued May 10 as he tries to pay his departure bond. His 12-month probation is withdrawn. May 29, 2018 — Even though the probation is withdrawn, local authorities release Esquivel-Garcia back to ICE. ICE releases him on a departure bond and reminds him of his July 20, 2018, deadline to depart set by the judge on May 21. June 16, 2018 — Vargas last seen leaving his job at Bowl and Barrel. June 18, 2018 — Vargas' body found in burned apartment; Esquivel-Garcia arrested by San Antonio Police Department on murder and arson charges; ICE places detainer with Bexar County Jail." August 28, 2018 — At the time of publication, Esquivel-Garcia is being held in the Bexar County Jail on a $195,000 bond and an ICE detainer. Sources:
- twitter.com/MarkSKrikorian/status/1034810331414048768 - twitter.com/RepChipRoy/status/1088561422655778816 - cis.org/Bensman/Clean-Media-Miss-Murder-San-Antonio-College-Student-Jared-Vargas-Illegal-Immigrant - www.foxnews.com/opinion/tomi-lahren-in-memory-of-jared-vargas-a-college-student-who-was-brutally-murdered-by-an-illegal-immigrant - theremembranceproject.org
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5100891/Border-Patrol-agent-killed-rock-throwers-ambush.html |
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