Mexican national accused of shooting woman on San Francisco pier wants case dismissed
Juan Francisco Sanchez-Lopez walks into court for his arraignment at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco on July 7.
The Mexican national charged with fatally shooting a young San Francisco woman walking on a city pier last summer is seeking dismissal of his criminal case, which added to the national debate over illegal immigration.
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Juan Francisco Sanchez-Lopez and his lawyer, Matt Gonzalez, are expected to ask a judge Friday to drop a second-degree murder charge and related counts, arguing that the judge presiding over a preliminary hearing late last year made procedural mistakes.
A San Francisco judge on Sept. 4 ordered Sanchez-Lopez to stand trial on murder charges.
Lopez-Sanchez was in the country illegally when he was released from the San Francisco jail despite federal immigration authorities requesting he remain in custody for possible deportation.
He has pleaded not guilty in the July 1 shooting death of Kathryn Steinle, who was strolling on the Embarcadero when she was shot once in the back. Lopez-Sanchez’s attorney didn’t return a phone call.
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