Thursday, November 30, 2017

Shooter Acquitted In Death Of Kate Steinle

A five-times-deported illegal alien on trial for killing Pleasanton, California resident Kate Steinle in San Francisco has been acquitted of murder, manslaughter, and assault with a firearm charges, and convicted only of possession of a firearm by a felon.  Steinle was killed by a shot to her back, as she was walking with her father at Pier 14 in San Francisco in 2015.  The jury deliberated for six days, and apparently decided to give some credence to the defense's argument that the defendant accidentally caused the gun to fire, the bullet ricocheting on a concrete walkway before striking Steinle.  The shooter now faces sentencing for the remaining change, and his sixth deportation.

Although we all have a First Amendment right to agree or disagree with the verdict, I don't normally like to criticize juries.  They often learn things that we in the public don't find out, and sometimes are instructed to disregard certain statements made in the courtroom.  I also must concede that I'm not acquainted with California's homicide laws.  But I can't help but wonder why there aren't any appropriate lesser types of charges, such as negligent homicide, that this shooting could have met.

Read more at the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, Fox News and ABC7.

UPDATE:  I found the RedState article about this case linked over at HotAirRS goes into some pretty good detail and asks if we have "been lied to" about this case.

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