Jury continues to deliberate over Philando Castile shooting case
St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez faces up to 20 years in prison for shooting Philando Castile in July 2016. The first 10 years would be the maximum sentence for manslaughter.
Prosecutors argued that Yanez mishandled the situation when he pulled Castile over and was informed he was armed. Defense attorneys claim that he was only reacting out of fear of losing his life and didn’t have time to think about the situation, according to CNN.
A jury of 12 people, including one Black man and one Black woman, deliberated for the second straight day on Tuesday after watching footage of the incident. Video taken by Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, only shows what happens after Castile was shot. It captured his white t-shirt being stained with his blood and his last words, “I wasn’t reaching for it.”
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Jurors were also shown dashcam footage of what happened up until the shooting, but didn’t capture any footage of whether or not Castile was reaching for his weapon. It did, however, show Yanez opening fire after just a minute of pulling him over.
Prosecutors asked police witnesses what the protocol is when they’re informed that someone they’ve stopped is armed. They confirmed that Yanez went against that protocol that day.
The two charges Yanez faces of dangerous discharge of a firearm for endangering Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter each come with a maximum sentence of five years.