After nearly five days of deliberation, a jury decided that there was not enough evidence to convict Jeronimo Yanez of second-degree manslaughter in the death of 32-year-old Philando Castile.
The Latino police officer had originally been charged with one count of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm in connection with the fatal shooting of Castile, a black man, during a traffic stop last summer. Yanez was the first police officer in modern Minnesota history to face formal criminal charges for an officer-involved shooting, but the Ramsey County Courthouse jury felt the evidence didn’t warrant a conviction.
Emotional Trial
The emotionally-charged case remained tense until the very end. Despite Judge William H. Leary’s instructions that nobody leave the courtroom until he dismissed them, Castile’s mother stood up immediately after the third “not guilty” verdict was read. She shouted some profanities while walking to the courtroom door while other Castile supporters cried out as the judge told Yanez that he was “excused from this matter with no further obligation to this court.”
Dennis Ploussard, a juror in the case, said that earlier in the week the jury was split 10-2 in favor of an acquittal, and eventually they agreed on a conclusion. Ploussard didn’t share many details about the deliberations, but he did say much of the conversation revolved around “culpable negligence.”
Yanez took the stand in his own defense during the trial, telling jurors that he thought he had no choice but to shoot Castile after he said he saw Castile gripping a pistol in his front right shorts pocket.
“I was scared to death. I thought I was going to die,” Yanez told the jury from the witness stand. “My family was popping up in my head. My wife. My baby girl.”
The prosecution argued that Castile was actually reaching for hit wallet to hand the officer his driver’s license when the officer “jumped to conclusions,” and recklessly shot him.
Verdict Fallout
Protests have sprung up all over Minnesota in the wake of the verdict. Protesters marched on the capital on the same day the verdict was read, and another protest took place yesterday in St. Anthony, the city where Yanez worked. Hours after the decision was read, the St. Anthony police department released a statement saying that Yanez would no longer be working as a police officer for the city. He was offered a voluntary separation because they decided “the public will be best served” if he was no longer serving on their force.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi pleaded with protesters to keep any demonstrations non-violent, and so far they have been peaceful.
“As hard as this is for some members of the community, we have to accept this verdict,” he said.
Some evidence from the case, including the squad car video that captured the shooting, is expected to be released to the public something this week. We’ll wait until then to come to our own conclusions, but no matter which side you fall on, we can agree that it is a tragedy. We’ll keep an eye on this story in the coming days.
