Mexican man cleared of San Francisco killing faces U.S. gun charges

A Mexican man acquitted of murder in the shooting death of a San Francisco woman that sparked a national immigration debate was sentenced Friday to time served for illegal gun possession.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Samuel Feng also denied a defence request to grant Jose Ines Garcia Zarate a new trial for his conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Garcia Zarate will now be taken into U.S. custody to face two federal gun possession charges.

The San Francisco Sheriff's Department said it would hold Garcia Zarate until U.S. marshals pick him up. His lawyer, Tony Serra, said he expects a transfer over the weekend. Garcia Zarate faced a maximum sentence of three years behind bars but has been in the San Francisco jail since his July 1, 2015, arrest.

In arguing for a new trial, defence attorneys said the judge failed to properly instruct jurors, who found Garcia Zarate not guilty last month of killing Kate Steinle on a popular pier in 2015.

He had previously been convicted of illegally re-entering the United States and been deported five times before Steinle was fatally shot. The San Francisco sheriff's department released him from jail several weeks before the shooting, ignoring a request from federal immigration officials to detain him for a sixth deportation.

Case became election issue

San Francisco's "sanctuary city" policy bars local officials from helping federal immigration authorities in deportation matters unless they have a warrant. Donald Trump pointed to the shooting during his presidential campaign as another reason to build a wall along the Mexican border and tighten immigration policies.

Defence lawyers argued in court papers that the judge improperly barred the jury from considering Garcia Zarate's claim that he didn't know he was holding a gun when it fired. They also argue that he didn't hold the gun long enough to warrant a firearm possession conviction.

Jurors had asked for clarification during deliberations on what "intent" they had to determine to convict Garcia Zarate of illegal possession.

Charges called politically motivated

Garcia Zarate said he was sitting on a city pier when he found and picked up a gun wrapped in rags. His lawyer said he didn't know it was a weapon until it accidentally fired, the bullet ricocheting of the pier's concrete walkway and striking Steinle in the back.

A federal grand jury indicted him on two felony charges of illegal gun possession less than a week after the San Francisco jury acquitted him of murder.

San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi on Friday criticized federal prosecutors for adding the charges, which he called "ridiculous" and politically motivated.

"This is rarely done" after a defendant is acquitted on the same charge in a state court, Adachi said.