FoxNews.com reports that

A California state appeals court Friday overturned the lone conviction against an undocumented immigrant who shot and killed Kate Steinle on the San Francisco waterfront in 2015, a case which drew national attention and became a flashpoint in the debate over illegal immigration.

Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate, who was in the U.S. illegally had been deported to his native Mexico five times, was acquitted in November 2017 of first and second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and assault with a semi-automatic weapon. He was convicted of one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On Friday, the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco overturned that 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.

Prosecutors argued that the jury instruction lapse was harmless because Garcia-Zarate admitted firing the gun and experts said he couldn’t do so without pulling the trigger. The court disagreed, saying the jury’s verdict showed they rejected the prosecution theory that the shooting was intentional or even negligent and they had asked the judge to define possession and whether there was a time requirement for possession.

“These questions go to the heart of the momentary possession defense,” Justice Sandra Margulies wrote in the 3-0 decision. “The fact the jury asked whether there was a time requirement for possession suggests jurors were wrestling with how long [the] defendant had the gun.”

Garcia-Zarate remains in custody and is facing federal charges of gun possession and being in the country illegally. His attorney, Tony Serra, told The Associated Press that trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 13 and added that the appeals court reversal will give prosecutors the option to re-try Garcia-Zarate.

“That kind of error causes reversals all the time. Then the prosecution has the prerogative of going again,” Serra said. “The state case is a heavier case because it’s a homicide and a gun. … It’s going to be a big potential decision on what they’re going to do.”

The San Francisco district attorney’s office was weighing its options, spokesman Alex Bastian said.

Steinle, 32, died on July 1, 2015, after she was struck by a bullet while walking with her father and a family friend. Garcia-Zarate claimed he unwittingly picked up the gun, which was wrapped in a T-shirt, and it fired accidentally.

The gun belonged to a federal Bureau of Land Management ranger and was stolen from his parked car a week earlier.

Earlier this year, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Steinle’s parents against San Francisco. The lawsuit maintained that the city’s so-called sanctuary policy and San Francisco County Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi bore responsibility for Steinle’s death.

Three months before the killing, Garcia-Zarate was released from custody after a drug case against him was dropped. The sheriff’s office, which had ended contact between jail employees and immigration officials, ignored a request by federal authorities to hold Garcia-Zarate until they could assume custody and did not inform them that he was being released.

Unbelievable.

An individual who entered our Sovereign Nation illegally and murdered one of our citizens is freed by a Liberal Appeals Court on a technicality so that he may go out and kill another young woman, sentencing her parents to grieve for the rest of their lives like the parents of Katie Stienle’s parents are..

Have you noticed that the Liberal Main Stream Media always leave out the word “illegal” to describe these lawbreakers, here in our Sovereign Nation without our permission, whom these Liberal Lawmakers from the First Circuit Court to congress to the Democratic Mayors of “Sanctuary Cities” are so hell-bent on protecting?

These Democrats are purposefully ignoring that while these “guests” (as Arizona’s Famous Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s successor has called them) are in our country illegally, they are committing other crimes as well…including MURDER.

On April 24, 2010, I wrote a post titled simply, “For Mr. Krentz”, detailing the murder of Arizona Rancher Robert Krentz by an illegal alien…

Police say Robert Krentz, whose family has been ranching in southern Arizona since 1907, was gunned down early Saturday morning, March 27th, 2010, by an illegal immigrant while out on his ATV tending to fences and water lines on the family’s 34,000-acre cattle ranch.

Reached by phone early Tuesday at his family’s ranch, Andy Krentz, Krentz’s oldest son, said his father was a churchgoing man who routinely went out of his way to help those in need.

“My father was a very good family man,” Krentz told FoxNews.com. “He supported his kids, supported his family. He went out of his way to help anybody we could without regarding to who they were. It didn’t matter who they were.”

Sue Krentz, Krentz’s wife, said she was “pretty overwhelmed” by her husband’s death, which coincided with her parents’ deteriorating health.

“This is icing on the cake,” Krentz said.

Rhe kicker is, the clownish excuses for city officials running these “Sanctuary Cities” are not only harboring fugitives like the ones who killed Kate Steinle and Robert Krentz, they are allowing them to vote!

Voting is an American Constitutional Right of self-determination.

Non-citizens have no such right.

I gave the following answer to a comment made by “Benito”, who submitted a rather lengthy comment to a blog I wrote about Illegal Immigration on May 19, 2010.

Benito, I approved your comment to ask you a few questions. First, you write very well. Next, a few questions. What part of the word “illegal” do you not understand? What makes the current influx of illegal immigrants exempt from the rules and regulations that every other generation of immigrants to this country had to abide by in order to become legal citizens of the greatest nation in the world? By being here illegally, you are not entitled to the same rights as natural-born or naturalized American citizens. You are no better than someone who breaks into someone’s home, does their dishes, cuts their yard, cleans their house, and then helps themselves to their food and drives their car without asking. This is in no way a human rights issue. Freedom is God-given. And with freedom comes responsibility. With citizenship comes responsibility, like paying taxes and making your own way. Illegal immigration reminds me of the amorous boyfriend who wants everything a young woman will give him, but will leave her at the first mention of marriage. I wish you no ill, amigo, but understand this: This is not a civil rights issue. Illegals do not have the same rights as American Citizens. With our rights, come the responsibilities of being an American citizen. The Mexican flag, by protocol, will always be flown in a subordinate position to the American Flag in this country. And, the American Dialect of the English language is the language spoken in this country.

Vaya con Dios.

Our Federal Taxes are being used to pay “Sanctuary Cities” to ignore our laws and house murderers, who, if our Immigration Laws were being properly enforced, would not be here killing innocent Americans. Compassion is one thing. Sanctuary Cities are an exercise in blatant, law-breaking stupidity.

I understand that people want a better life for themselves and their children. We are all immigrants in this land, except for American Indians, and they got here by crossing the Bering Straight. But there is a huge difference between immigrating here legally and sneaking in illegally, between assimilating into an existing culture, and insisting on replacing a country’s existing culture with that of the country you left.

I’m all for assisting anyone in becoming a legal citizen of the United States, if that is their wish. But, it must be done the right way, and they must accept responsibility for their illegal entry, show a willingness to learn our language, and embrace our American way of life, including respecting the American Flag.

Criminals are criminals, whether they are here legally or illegally.

They deserve no sanctuary.

Neither Kate Steinle nor Mr. Krentz deserved to be murdered by barbarians who had already broken our laws once by trespassing into our Sovereign Nation.

OUR FOUNDERS ESTABLISHED AMERICA AS ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE.

NOT THE TOWER OF BABEL OR SOME THIRD WORLD LAWLESS HELLHOLE WHERE LAWLESSNESS RULES.

Finish building the wall. Secure our borders. Enforce the existing anti-illegal immigration laws.

Kate Steinle, Robert Krentz, and the other American Citizens who have been killed by illegal immigrants deserve no less.

Until He Comes,

KJ