Following the overturned state firearm conviction of illegal immigrant Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate, U.S. Attorney David Anderson said Wednesday the federal government plans to proceed with federal gun charges in the case of Kate Steinle, during an interview on “Fox & Friends.”
Zarate, who was previously deported five times, was charged by the state of California with the murder of Steinle in 2015 and was acquitted on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and assault with a semi-automatic weapon. He was, however, convicted of felony possession of a firearm, and has maintained the stolen gun he used had discharged in his hands accidentally.
That gun conviction was overturned by a California state appeals court last week, causing the federal government to exercise its option to seek a federal indictment.
“The case is set for trial in our federal courthouse in San Francisco in January of 2020,” Anderson told Fox News on Wednesday. “The case is now proceeding through the pretrial proceedings towards that trial date.”
“In the federal court we’ve brought this case on the basis of a statute passed by Congress many years ago that prohibits certain categories of people from possessing any firearms,” he added. “If you’re someone who has no lawful status in the United States — if you’re here without any right to be here, you cannot possess a firearm.” – READ MORE