Country. Lyanne melendez has been covering this extensively. Stunning decision, lyanne. It would be an understatement to say everybody here is surprised with regard to this verdict. I think many people were at least expecting Involuntary Manslaughter and that was not the case here. Again, for those of you joining us, the jury decided that in terms of first degree murder, not guilty, Second Degree murder, not guilty, and again Involuntary Manslaughter, not guilty. Now, there was one guilty verdict here, and that was possession of a firearm. And, you know, thats very interesting because i asked jeff odachi, the public defender, how is it possible that you find Jose Ines Garcia zarate not guilty on all those charges but yet you find him guilty of possessing a firearm . He says that happens because the jury perhaps decided that even holding, for example, if he found that gun as the defense always argued, if he found it and held it in his hand, he knew that it could be dangerous holding that gun. And thats why they decided to find him guilty on that charge. Now, that carries a sentence of i was told by jeff odachi, between 18 months and three years. Hes already served two years. But i also want to make something very clear here, that it has been confirmed that there is a federal warrant made, of course, by the federal government and i. C. E. Officials im sure would be here the moment he if he goes to jail, im sure that he would be detained. Now, i understand that there is a reaction from his defense team, matt gonzalez, who took on the case very early on. And just before you hear from matt gonzalez, he said, basically, this was a fair trial. And jeff odachi said it was a terrible tragedy. But lets hear what matt gonzalez, the defense attorney for Jose Ines Garcia zarate had to say. They heard the evidence. They deliberated as a group. They heard readback testimony. They looked at the physical evidence and they rendered a verdict to the best of their abilities in accordance with the law. Now, i also want to say that there was a fifth charge, if youll recall, that was assault with a semiautomatic weapon, and he, too, was found that with rgard to that charge not guilty. Now, we also want to hear from the prosecution. The prosecutor in this case, diana garcia, did not want to comment for the cameras. But the spokesperson for the department did. And lets hear what alex had to say. The verdict that came in was not the one we were hoping for. Its unequivocal, both sides gave it their all. Both sides had good lawyers in court. They presented the case the way they did. At the end of the day its the jury that determines what the verdict is. The jury came back with the verdict that they did. And well respect that decision. But again, cant stress this enough, this really is about the steinle family. Theyve shown incredible resolve during this parole process. And our hearts go out to them. The defense was fond of saying this case should not have been charged as a murder, that it was one of, but not the only ricochet shot charged as a murder in San Francisco. In hindsight with the jurys decision, was this case overcharged or charged incorrectly . Every case thats charged goes through court, various stages, preliminary hearing, other motions that are filed. This case made its way to a trial courtroom for a reason. It made its way twa trial courtroom because at every stage there was sufficient evidence necessary to go to trial and go to trial. At the end of the day this case really was a question for the jury. You must be disappointed, alex, are you disappointed with this. It was a verdict we were not hoping for. I know that both sides fought very hard. But again, the jury is the one, the jurors are the ones that make a determination on the case and we will respect that decision. Alex, what are you guys hoping for, 16 months, two years, three years . That is yet to be determined, the process by way sentencing happens is a future court date is set. So we will unveil that information as it comes back. [ inaudible question ] so, again, its my understanding that there is a warrant in place, but for any of those questions, please contact the custodial agency or the agency that has the warrant in place. Thank you all very much. Reporter and at this point we dont know when the sentencing will occur, at least i wasnt in the room at that time, if that was even talked about. The other thing that i did not see, but someone who was inside the courtroom did see, because i had left to go cover this live for you, is that Garcia Zarate did turn towards his attorney, matt gonzalez, and gave him a hug. Now, i want to also Say Something about the members of the jury. In many cases, be it a civil, or a murder case, sometimes members of the jury come out and talk to us. In this case each of them, every single one of them asked that they not be interviewed. As a matter of fact, they didnt even leave through here. They didnt do the general walk, which they do every day here. They left through a back door. You know, i dont blame them. This is a very controversial case, has always been. I can tell you that people who follow me on twitter have been criticizing the verdict from all over the country. So you can imagine i dont blame them. They want to remain just, you know, nameless. And the also i will say that the judge in this case promised them that their names, address and any information that they have will be sealed. And that, of course, was done to protect the members of the jury. Lyanne, thanks very much. A look from sky 7, you can see the hall of justice. The jurors left without public view. All eyes are on this building as the jurors reached a verdict. It feels like it has been a long time coming. And this verdict today will be questioned and controversial. The jury has left after ruling that this man has been found not guilty on all of the serious charges against him in the death of kate steinle. Fairly quiet outside right now despite a verdict many will be debating for days and weeks to come. Inside the courthouse people are still trying to come to grips with this verdict. Thats where we go live now to abc News ReporterCornell Barnard who has been covering this as well. Reporter a lot of activity outside the hall of justice here. Prosecution team clearly stunned by this verdict. Diana garcia walking right by reporters, not saying a word as she disappeared into an exit right off of courtroom 13, which has been the center of this case, really for the last three, four weeks, started on october 23rd. All eyes on the from the nation on this case following the case of 45yearold Jose Ines Garcia zarate, an undocumented immigrant who was deported five times from the United States but managed to get back into the country. He, the crime, of course, happened july 1st, 2015. He was arrested. About 48 hours later. That was july 4th weekend. Thats when abc 7 news went to the jail, requested an interview with the inmate. He said yes. We were led up to the seventh floor of the hall of justice where the lockup is, and i sat down with him in a holding cell. Heres what he told me. Did you shoot kate steinle, the lady who was down on pier 14 . Yes. You did shoot her . Uhhuh. A boom boom, three times. He claims he kicked the gun into the bay, lit up a cigarette and walked off not knowing she shot someone until he was arrested by police hours later. Where did you get the gun . In the ground when the over there in the bench, looked down at my leg and see one tshirt and see something there. I feel sorry for the everybody. You feel sorry for everybody . Including Kate Steinles family . Yeah. Reporter he said he had a lot of remorse for what he did. He said it was an accident. He went to pier 14 that day. He says he found the gun wrapped in a tshirt. When he bent over to pick it up, the gunfired, ricochetted, and killed kate steinle. He claims he did not know he shot anyone, he dropped the gun, kicked it into the water, lit up a cigarette and walked away. That gun, of course, stolen from the car of a ranger from the bureau of land management. He told me he kept coming back to the United States because he knew that San Francisco was a sanctuary city. He said he was able to get jobs here in gardening, in construction, and that he knew that he would not be pursued by federal authorities if he came to San Francisco. Of course, the shooting happened in the midst of the president ial campaign, candidate then candidate donald trump making this a key talking point during his campaign. He wanted to know how a fivetime felon, convicted on a nonviolent drug felonies, was able to get back into the United States. It became a key issue and it continues to be and certainly will be after this stunning verdict. Live at the hall of justice, im Cornell Barnard, abc 7 news. No doubt about that, cornell. Much debate coming. Thank you very much. This trial has taken less than two months to complete. Jury selection began on october 2nd, opening arguments starteding october 23rd. The defense claim the shooting was a freak accident. And closing arguments wrapped up the case the monday before thanksgiving. Kate steinle died on pier 14 in july two years ago. Melanie woodrow is live at the pier right now for us. Melanie . Reporter well, as weve been talking to people here, some of them have seen the news of the verdict over twitter, others weve shared that verdict with them, and in both cases the reaction from everyone weve spoken to has been one of shock. People saying that they are absolutely stunned that Garcia Zarate was found not on Involuntary Manslaughter. Everyone weve talked to said that they did not expect hed be found guilty on murder charges, but they did expect that he would be found guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter. Heres what one woman who lives here in San Francisco had to say about the verdict. I was really surprised. And just shocked as well because someone died from this. I mean, it might have been an accident. But still, a life was lost. Reporter and another woman we talked to here at pier 14 said she just happened to be walking by when she heard the news of the verdict, and so she came over here to stop and look. She said shes not sure that a guilty verdict on unvoluntary manslaughter would have helped the steinle family, but that she knows this has to hurt. Also, youre looking at a plaque here on the bench that was dedicated in memory of kate steinle. And the words there say whatever is good for your soul, do that. These are the words that kate steinle posted to her personal Facebook Page the day before her death. Live at pier 14, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. Got to be hard for the family to process. Melanie, thank you. We are getting a lot of. Kate steinle livid in San Francisco at the time of the shooting. She grew up in pleasanton. Eric thomas is there now with reaction to this verdict. Eric . Reporter dan, pleasanton is a town of over 70,000 people in the east bay. Kate steinle did grow up here. She was 32 years old. A graduate of Amador Valley high. The reaction has been shock, kind of an understatement. The first gentleman we talked to just whistled and walked off. We talked to a lady whose daughter went to Amador Valley high said she knows the same people and its a shocking verdict. We talked to a Business Owner whos an immigrant and a young lady who has been following the case. This is what they had to say about the surprise verdict. I just think its absurd that people arent being held accountable for actions, you know, with theres been so many cases at this point, gun violence is at an alltime high it seems like. If i was somebody whos walking with my daughter in San Francisco and the next thing, you end up dead, somebody has to pay the price. Tony, himself, is an immigrant from lebanon, and a fervent trump supporter. It was offensive to have somebody come here five times as an undocumented immigrant. He sees the trump tweets as sort of a side show that distracts away from the main narrative. In his view, yes, there should be a crackdown on illegal immigration and that this does not send the message that they want sent. So pleasanton sees itself kind of as an allamerican town, divergent views on what happened over there in terms of the shock value of it. Most people here seem to think it wasnt the right verdict, that there should have been something other than possession of a firearm. Live in pleasanton, eric thomas, abc 7 news. Thank you. Joining us now is longtime former alameda distr distr distr attorney. John craigton, thank you for being here. Lets what eric just talked about. A question of whether there could have been or shouchb aother conviction in this case. Could there have been another charge, any opportunity to charge him differently that might have led to a different verdict . Not really. The murder and Involuntary Manslaughter charges covered the set of facts as i understand them from what was presented at trial. So thats basically the most serious charge, obviously, off the table, but the least serious of the most serious charges, Involuntary Manslaughter, probably the lowest threshold they could have thats correct. So if the jury did not even buy into Involuntary Manslaughter, that means they dont believe he recklessly handled the gun. A lot of people seem to be surprised by that. Maybe do we need to be reminded that it takes only one juror to think different i, to think he was the victim, but that he picked it up and went off, is that the likely scenario in your mind how they arrived at that conclusion. Well, no, they all had to unanimously agree he was not guilty. They all 12 agreed he was not not only not guilty of murder, but not guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter. Keep in mind that in an Involuntary Manslaughter there has to be a crime committed, in this case brandishing, and it has to be so reckless it create as high risk of death and that as a result someone died. And apparently the jury concluded that the defendant did not brandish the weapon, or if he did brandish it, he didnt brandish it in such a reckless way that it would qualify as a Involuntary Manslaughter. So, john, if i walked out and found a gun and picked it up, waved it around, held it up and fired it. Thats very different than i picked it up, held it in my hand, not pointing it in any direction is what youre saying. Very much so, yes. Thats a totally different level of reckless behavior . If he just picked the gun up and inadvertently caused the gun to go off or even pulled the trigger, pointing it to the ground, or not necessarily. If he deliberately pulled the trigger and it ricochetted off the ground and killed somebody that would be, i think, a basis for a jury to convict him of Involuntary Manslaughter. But if he picked up the gun and inadvertently touched the trigger so that it went off, the jury could logically conclude it was an accident. If nobody saw it there was no way to prove whether he accidentally squeezed the trigger. There are a lot of people who seem to be stunned judging the reaction of social media. Is this necessarily inconsistent with the type of verdicts youve seen rendered in cases similar to these or this one . I know every case is unique in its own way. But does it necessarily scream inconsistent with what youve seen out of San Francisco in the past . This was a very unusual fact pattern. I cant really compare it with other cases. Right. Apparently this gun the bullet that was fired from the gun ricochetted off the pavement and struck ms. Steinle. And thats a thats not a typical case. Right, right. So where do we go from here . Hes now in local custody. But thats going to change. Walk us through that process. According to the District Attorneys Office there is a federal warrant in place for him so that when the state proceedings are concluded and hes sentenced, and his time is served, he will be transferred to federal custody and then whatever proceedings they have in federal court will proceed. And i presume they would be deportation proceedings. Deported likely. Last thing to button this up, with this conviction today on possession of a firearm, whats the maximum sentence, three years . Three years, yes, and served at halftime. So his actual time in custody would be a year and a half. And hes already been in custody. So if hes been in custody for longer than a year and a half, its time served. Interes get a free pecan or pumpkin pie with every 20 order from dennys. Com. You can eat it wherever you want, even if you are in someone elses house. Santa. Enter promo code, freepie, on your next order at dennys. Com showing you some clouds passing through the bay area. No rain right now, but that could be changing over the weekend. Tomorrow its still going to be mild. A mix of sun and high dloudclou temperatures low to mid60s. Sevenday forecast, dry tomorrow, saturday afternoon through earl sunday, a few showers, just a chance. Much cooler. Mid to upper 50s coast side, next week well warm it back up with sunshine. Dan has crazy low prices. Do you know how we do it . How . Bargainomics say, if california has a bumper crop and produces too many oranges. Or a winemaker in sonoma suddenly has 1000 bottles too many. Weve got namebrand, topquality groceries priced 4070 off every day. Bargainomics. Thats our Business Model. And our Business Model is. Delicious. Grocery outlet bargain market when you have doctors working as a team for your health, you get the care you need to help you thrive. Visit kp. Org to learn more. Kaiser permanente. Thrive. When conditions change where you live. Were expecting heavy rain in the bay area tomorrow. This is going to be a strong, slow moving soaker. Abc alerts you first. The Flash Flood Warning up here were taking it seriously. What you need to know when its headed your way. Right to our storm, level 3 on storm impact scale. Live doppler 7 is wherever you are. Along with satellite, this is our storm system right here. Stay ahead of the storm and find out first with abc 7 weather. Now recapping tonights top story, a jury acquitted the man accused of killing kate steinle on the most serious charges leveled against him. Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty of murder or involunta Involuntary Manslaughter. Steinle died after being shot walking on pier 14 . July of 2015. Garcia zarates attorneys claim the gun went off accidentally. Prosecutors argued unsuccessfully that Garcia Zarate fired the weapon deliberately. The steinle family did not attend the reading of the verdict. But they did speak with diaz. Kates father gym says this, were just shocked, saddened and shocked. Thats about it. Theres no other way you can coin it. Justice was rendered, but it was not served. The steinles said they appreciated the Victim Support Services provided by the District Attorneys Office, and they were moved and comforted by the cards, phone calls, and donations made to charities in kates memory. All right. This case touched off a nationwide debate as weve talked about here. It was used in the president ial campaign extensively. People on both sides of this question, people fighting for sanctuary cities in this city and other places around this country use this case as an kpf example pro and con. And now with this verdict, it will be very controversial. The debate will likely fire up again. We invite you to comment on abc 7 news Facebook Page and let us know what you think. You can get the latest on the abc 7 news app. Do want to mention once again, though, once the sentencing is completed and once the state of california is done with zarate, then with the federal warrant he will return to federal custody in all likelihood face deportation proceedings. Right. Again, hes been deported a number of times and said he wanted to come back here many times because he knew he would be safe in San Francisco from deportation or from federal authorities and also that he could find work here. Its interesting. The process will start again. Interesting San Francisco, again, reiterated we will remain a sanctuary city here despite the outcome today. World news tonight with david muir is coming up next. Im kristen sze. And im dan tonight, matt lauer breaks his silence. The fired nbc host apologizes, admitting there is enough truth in the allegations for him to feel ashamed. New images tonight of lauer and new reporting. What the women now describe. Breaking news tonight. 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