By Vivian Ho
The bullet that killed Kate Steinle skipped off the concrete of San Francisco’s Pier 14 before striking her in the back, jurors were told Monday, but what that means is a crucial point of contention between city prosecutors trying to prove murder and defense attorneys who say the infamous 2015 shooting was an accident.
Assistant District Attorney Diana Garcia introduced the ricochet evidence on the fifth day of the Superior Court trial of 45-year-old Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a homeless immigrant with a record of drug crimes whose release by San Francisco authorities 2½ months before the shooting — despite a federal request to hold him for deportation — ignited a political firestorm.
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Kate-Steinle-murder-trial-San-Francisco-12318120.php