Alternate juror: Steinle shooting jury was right to acquit
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An alternate juror who sat through a murder trial in a case that sparked a fierce national debate on immigration said Wednesday he agreed with the jury's decision to acquit a Mexican man of murder in the shooting death of a San Francisco woman two years ago.
Phil Van Stockum, 33, said in an interview with The Associated Press that there was no evidence Jose Ines Garcia Zarate planned or meant to kill Kate Steinle in 2015.
Garcia Zarate said he found a gun wrapped in a T-shirt under a seat on a popular pier, and it fired when he picked it up.
The bullet ricocheted off a concrete walkway about 18 feet (5.5 meters) away and flew another 80 feet (24.