Brief hearing, no plea from officer in Castile shooting
Updated 5 p.m. | Posted 4 a.m.
The St. Anthony police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile at a traffic stop in July did not enter a plea during a brief court appearance on Monday.
Dressed in a suit and blue tie, Jeronimo Yanez firmly answered "yes, your honor" when the judge asked if he understood what was happening. He left the court quickly after that. The hearing took only a few minutes.
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Yanez was expected to make a plea once a trial judge had been selected. Late Monday afternoon, the court said Ramsey County Judge Edward Wilson would hear the case.
Yanez faces a second-degree manslaughter charge in Castile's death — and two other felony charges for firing a weapon while Castile's girlfriend and her daughter were in the car during the Falcon Heights stop.
Yanez's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the charges last week, saying there's not enough probable cause.
"The allegation is that of 'culpable negligence,'" they wrote in the motion to dismiss, adding, "the question, unanswered by the complaint, with whether Mr. Castile himself was negligent. And did his negligence at least contribute to this tragedy."
The defense argues that because Castile smoked marijuana and was "stoned" during the traffic stop — they cite an autopsy report saying he had high levels of THC, a chemical in marijuana, in his system when he died — he didn't follow Yanez's commands.
Castile was licensed to carry a weapon, and had a gun with him in the car when Yanez pulled him over. Early in the traffic stop, he told the officer about the gun, and that's when the incident escalated.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi has said Castile was calm and non-threatening during the entire ordeal.
But the defense argues that because Castile was a marijuana user, he shouldn't have carried a firearm in the first place. It also references material from Castile's permit-to-carry instructor, James Diehl, that says he was taught to tell the officer he had a permit, follow orders and show his hands.
Yanez's attorneys argue Castile was himself "culpably negligent" by not doing what he had been taught.
The Castile family's attorneys, Glenda Hatchett and Robert Bennett, challenged that theory, but said they weren't surprised at the defense team's strategy.