A federal judge in San Francisco is mulling the competency to stand trial of an undocumented man who shot and killed 32-year-old Kate Steinle, a shooting that figured prominently in President Trump’s run for the White House four years ago.
The case against Jose Ines Garcia Zarate on federal gun charges has been pending since U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria raised “serious concerns” about his mental capacities back in January, the San Francisco Examiner reported Friday.
“I’m tired of waiting here,” Garcia Zarate told the court Friday through a Spanish interpreter, adding that he wanted to be sentenced to prison or deported back to Mexico.
Two doctors have diagnosed Garcia Zarate with schizophrenia and found him unfit to stand trial because he cannot follow the court proceedings. They said he believes electronics are broadcasting messages to him and other inmates and that he believes his attorney is accepting bribes from the police.
Garcia Zarate has also said he wants to plead guilty. The judge told him he would not be allowed to do so on Friday.