03 June, 2017
Jury selection begins Tuesday in what's believed to be the first time a Minnesota police officer has been indicted for shooting a civilian while on duty.
It was here on Larpenteur Ave., a four-lane road that borders the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, that St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez pulled over a 1997 Oldsmobile on the evening of July 6, 2016.
The aftermath of the shooting of Philando Castile by Officer Jeronimo Yanez was captured on video by Castile's fiancee.
The jury will be able to see the footage from Yanez's dash cam and, of course, the infamous Facebook live video.
Yanez's defense attorneys did not respond Friday to a request for comment.
When Judge William H. Leary III asked if a suitable remedy might be leaving Castile's permit to carry out of the trial altogether, Paulsen asked to have until tomorrow to think it over. He'll rule after prosecutors share their position on the issue Wednesday morning.
Court was adjourned for the day about 10:25 a.m. local time so the potential jurors could spend the afternoon filling out questionnaires. Twelve jurors and three alternates will be selected to hear the case. A handful of people of color were among the panel members.
"The whole trial is going to be about the officer's state of mind", Friedberg said, adding that the gun permit had "absolutely no impact" on Yanez's mental state before or during the shooting. The defense argued that Castile's status to carry a weapon is not relevant to the charges since Yanez had no knowledge whether Castile had a permit or not when he fired the fatal shots.
The defense has indicated previously that it plans to argue at trial that Castile was high at the time of the shooting and was thus culpable in his death. Paul area and surrounded the governor's mansion. John Thompson was Castile's friend and watched as the prospective jurors took their seats today.
Phil Stinson, a professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in OH, says police officers shoot and kill people about 900 to 1,000 times per year.
Jury selection begins Tuesday and is expected to last at least a couple of days.
Yanez is charged with second degree manslaughter in the shooting death of 32-year old Philando Castile during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights last July. Castile, who was carrying his firearm for which he had a legal permit, informed the officer of his weapon while handing over his license and proof of insurance.
The second motion the defense has filed is that they have learned from a state interview with Diamond Reynolds, Castile's girlfriend, that marijuana was purchased 2-3 hours before the shooting. The graphic video showing Castile's final moments after Jeronimo Yanez shot him made headlines almost a year ago, and led to calls for changes in policing. Attorneys for St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez, who goes on trial this week for manslaughter, have maintained he was reacting to the presence of a gun and feared for his life. Jury selection begins Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in the manslaughter case against Yanez, a St.
Castile, who was Black, died on July 6 after being pulled over in Falcon Heights-a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota.
