On the third day of Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez’s preliminary hearing, KGO reports, a ballistics expert testified that the fatal bullet that struck Kathryn Steinle ricocheted off the pavement of the pier. In other words, this infers that Steinle’s killing appears unintentional and may have been the result of an accident.

According to the Examiner, this testimony came from Jim Norris, who is the former head of the SFPD’s crime lab. Norris stated that, while he was not conceding to the fact that the weapon firing off was accidental, Steinle was however struck by a rebounding bullet at a random angle, bouncing off from the pier. “If you were trying to shoot somebody, this is not the way to shoot somebody,” Norris said in his testimony. “It’s not going to fly true like it would have if it hadn’t struck something,”

This contradicts testimony given on Wednesday by police inspector John Evans, who said that the bullet was traveling in a straight line toward the victim, suggesting that Lopez-Sanchez was intentionally pointing the gun toward Steinle.

As you may already know, Lopez-Sanchez has already admitted that he fired the gun. However, the question now remains as to whether or not he had purposely done so.

Judge Brendan Conroy has scheduled further proceedings for Sept. 3.

Previously: Francisco Sanchez, Suspect In Pier 14 Murder, In Court For Preliminary Hearing