SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A judge is deciding whether to schedule a murder trial for a Mexican national at the center of a national immigration debate who admitted to shooting and killing a young San Francisco woman while she walked along the city's waterfront last month.
San Francisco Judge Brendan Conroy could rule as early as Wednesday after a second day of testimony concludes in the preliminary hearing for Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez.
Lopez-Sanchez has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges. His lawyer says the shooting of Kate Steinle, 32, on July 1 appeared to be accidental.
The judge has to decide if there's enough evidence to schedule a trial. Three detectives testified Tuesday, establishing Lopez-Sanchez was the shooter. But it still remains unclear if he purposely shot Steinle in the back or if the gun accidentally fired, as he told a local televisions station in a jailhouse interview.
More testimony is scheduled for Wednesday.
Lopez-Sanchez has been deported five times and was wanted for a sixth removal from the country when he was released from San Francisco's jail. He was released after local prosecutors dropped a two-decade old marijuana possession charge and despite federal officials requests to detain him further for deportation proceedings.
Jim Steinle told police he had his arm around his daughter as they strolled along San Francisco's popular Pier 14, taking in the city's picturesque waterfront. Suddenly, he heard a loud "pop" and Kate Steinle slumped to the ground, moaning "Dad, help me, help me," homicide detective Nico Discenza testified Tuesday.
"He thought her cellphone blew up," Discenza said.
Jim Steinle has since traveled to Washington D.C. to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and to urge lawmakers to abolish local policies of ignoring federal immigration requests for cooperation with deportations.
San Francisco and other cities and counties ignore requests from federal authorities to detain jail inmates who are thought to be in the country illegally.
San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi said he was following city law when jailers released Lopez-Sanchez after a 20-year-old marijuana possession charge was dropped. But leading politicians, including top Democrats such as California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, said Lopez-Sanchez should have been detained.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee also criticized the sheriff, saying Mirkarimi should have notified immigration officials of Lopez-Sanchez's impending release.
Lopez-Sanchez was brought into court Tuesday heavily shackled at the waist and ankles. The slight man nervously twitched his right leg up and down and stared at the floor during most of the hearing Tuesday morning. In the afternoon, he occasionally viewed photos of a smiling Kate Steinle with her father snapped moments before she was slain.