JOSE INEZ GARCIA-ZARATE, a Mexican national who killed tourist Kate Steinle on Pier 14 in San Francisco in 2015, was sentenced to time served on Monday, but that will not end his long journey through the American legal system.

Citing Garcia-Zarate’s history of mental illness and the harsh conditions of his confinement, U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria found that seven years in state and federal incarceration was enough punishment for the two federal weapons offenses to which Garcia-Zarate pleaded guilty in March.

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Joe Dworetzky is a second career journalist. He practiced law in Philadelphia for more than 35 years, representing private and governmental clients in commercial litigation and insolvency proceedings. Joe served as City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Ed Rendell and from 2009 to 2013 was one of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission with responsibility for managing the city’s 250 public schools. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and began writing fiction and pursuing a lifelong interest in editorial cartooning. Joe earned a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University in 2020. He covers Legal Affairs and writes long form Investigative stories. His occasional cartooning can be seen in Bay Area Sketchbook. Joe encourages readers to email him story ideas and leads at joe.dworetzky@baycitynews.com.