US judge mulls competency of Mexican man who shot American woman Kate Steinhle after two doctors diagnose him with schizophrenia and say he's unfit to stand trial
A federal judge in San Francisco is mulling the competency to stand trial of a Mexican man who shot and killed 32-year-old Kate Steinle, a shooting that figured prominently in President Donald Trump's run for the White House four years ago.
The case against Jose Ines Garcia-Zarate on federal gun charges has been pending since U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria raised 'serious concerns' about his mental capacities back in January, the San Francisco Examiner reported Friday.
'I'm tired of waiting here,' Garcia-Zarate told the court Friday through a Spanish interpreter, adding that he wanted to be sentenced to prison or deported back to Mexico.
A federal judge in San Francisco is mulling the competency of a Mexican man, Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate to stand trial for the shooting and killing of 32-year-old Kate Steinle, a shooting that figured prominently in President Donald Trump's run for the White House four years ago
A 2017 murder trial ended with the acquittal of Garcia-Zarate, whose arrest set off a fierce national debate on immigration. A judge is now deciding on his competency for a retrial
Garcia-Zarate admitted to picking up the gun that fired the fatal shot, but said it was accidental
Two doctors have diagnosed Garcia-Zarate with schizophrenia and found him unfit to stand trial because he cannot follow the court proceedings. They said he believes electronics are broadcasting messages to him and other inmates and that he believes his attorney is accepting bribes from the police.
Garcia-Zarate has also said he wants to plead guilty. The judge told him he would not be allowed to do so on Friday.
Garcia-Zarate has been in detention since the July 1, 2015, shooting on a crowded San Francisco pier, setting off a political firestorm over immigration and crime.
A San Francisco Superior Court jury acquitted him of various charges including murder in late 2017.
An appeals court later overturned the only conviction prosecutors obtained against him, that of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
His defense attorneys in the state case argued he picked up the gun not knowing what it was and fired it accidentally.
Above, a memorial near the scene of the shooting in July 2015. Garcia-Zarate said he unwittingly picked up the gun wrapped in a T-shirt, and it fired accidentally
The 1st District Court of Appeal overturned the gun 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.
Garcia-Zarate said he unwittingly picked up the gun wrapped in a T-shirt, and it fired accidentally.
The bullet ricocheted off a concrete walkway and struck Steinle, who was with her dad and a family friend.
At the time, Garcia-Zarate had recently been released from the county jail while facing deportation proceedings.
He was released under San Francisco's so-called sanctuary city policy that barred local law enforcement officials from cooperating with most federal immigration investigations.
Steinle was walking on the pier with her dad and a family friend when she was fatally shot
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