Cop Who Shot Philando Castile Heads To Trial; Jury May Not Hear Castile Had Gun Permit

On the evening of July 6, 2016, Officer Jeronimo Yanez pulled over a 1997 Oldsmobile with Philando Castile, his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter inside.  Yanez fired seven shots into the car after asking Castile to show his registration and identification and being informed that Castile had a handgun in his pocket that he was licensed to carry. The aftermath was caught on video as Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, recorded the incident on Facebook Live. Castile was literally left to die for the entire world to see.

Additional information has surfaced following the shooting, including what lead Yanez to pull Castile and his girlfriend over in the first place. According to a recording between Yanez and dispatch, Philando Castile, a 32-year-old cafeteria supervisor at a local elementary school, fit the description of a robbery suspect because of his “wide-set nose.”

Yanez was charged with second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.

Jurors began filling out questionnaires and attorneys raised motions on Tuesday. After two hours, the trial was adjourned for the day, set to resume on Wednesday for attorneys to begin the selection process. On Tuesday, Yanez’s attorneys asked the judge to edit out the parts of the Facebook Live video that reference Castile being permitted to carry a handgun. The defense argued that it was not relevant to Yanez’s charges and that the officer had no knowledge that Castile had a permit when he fired the fatal shots. It appeared that prosecutors were willing to accept the motion, on the grounds that jurors would be instructed not to consider whether or not Castile had a permit.

After being told about the gun, Yanez warned Castile several times not to reach for it, to which Castile told him several times that he wasn’t.

“Sir, I have to tell you, I do have a firearm on me. Officer Yanez then said, OK, don’t reach for it, then,”Ramsey County Attorney John Choi read from the reports. “Philando Castile moaned and uttered his final words: I wasn’t reaching for it.”