He said it was his understanding that the limitations came from an attorney representing Woychowski.
A spokesman for the San Francisco District Attorney's Office declined to elaborate on what, if any, negotiation with federal attorneys took place before Ravano interviewed Woychowski.
Attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of the Interior initially opposed Woychowski testifying in the trial and argued he did not have to comply with a state court subpoena. Superior Court Judge Samuel Feng ordered Woychowski to testify, however, and he did last week.
"The district attorney and certainly the Bureau of Land Management have been very protective of the ranger," Gonzalez said after Woychowski's testimony on Oct. 26. "There seems to be a lot of protective concern where they don't want to just let the ranger answer questions about what transpired. I've never seen a witness this protected."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Wall and Department of the Interior Attorney Kevin Mack have attended some of the Steinle murder trial, and were present when Woychowski testified.
"It would be hard for the jury not to have a takeaway that there are a lot of lawyers for the Bureau of Land Management suddenly participating," Gonzalez said at the time.
The U.S. government is a defendant in a separate civil case brought by Steinle's family, alleging Woychowski was negligent when he failed to securely store his firearm.
A spokeswoman for the California state office of the Bureau of Land Management declined to comment when she was asked for clarification on what, if any, negotiation took place over questions Woychowski could or could not be asked by SFPD homicide investigators.
"The Bureau of Land Management is not commenting further on this trial," she wrote, directing inquiries to the U.S. Department of Justice.
A spokesman for the Northern California District U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on the record at this time.
Defendant Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was not represented by an attorney when Ravano and two other SFPD officers interviewed him the night Steinle died. On a video of the interview played in court Wednesday, he appeared to ask for an attorney about a half-hour into the questioning -- at about 3 a.m. on July 2, 2015 -- but it wasn't completely clear. The defense lost an earlier bid to exclude the interview from the trial.
Gonzalez probed some of the more confounding answers Garcia Zarate gave during cross-examination of Ravano on Thursday.
When the inspectors pressed Garcia Zarate, telling him they didn't believe he found the gun wrapped in cloth on the pier, he answered "yes."
But when they then asked him where he found it, he said he found it where he was sitting, on the pier.
"Weren't you concerned that you could get Mr. Garcia Zarate to say whatever you wanted him to say?" Gonzalez asked Ravano.
"Questions are presented and answers are given," Ravano said. "As a homicide inspector, you're somewhat skeptical of a lot of answers you receive."
The prosecution rested its case Thursday after brief testimony from San Francisco's chief medical examiner, who performed an autopsy on Steinle's body. The defense is expected to start presenting its case on Monday.
