No Plea For St. Anthony Officer Jeronimo Yanez In Castile Shooting
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Attorneys working to defend St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez promised a short court hearing on Monday.
The omnibus hearing for Yanez, charged with the manslaughter death of Philando Castile last summer, lasted led than five minutes. It was over quickly when his defense team reserved entering a plea to the charges, or discussing any defense motions until the case is assigned a trial judge.
Explains defense attorney, Earl Gray, "We have no scheduled hearing. The next move will be a judge is assigned the case. Once a judge is assigned then our motions will be heard."
Gray is one of three attorneys representing Yanez. The St. Anthony police officer is charged with three counts of second-degree manslaughter and discharge of a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors believe Yanez overreacted to the threat posed by Castile, who was pulled over for a traffic stop last July.
The shooting of the black Castile by a Hispanic police officer touched off a wave of angry protests across the Twin Cities. It was the latest in what had been a string of police shootings of black men across the nation.
Castile had a legal permit to carry a concealed weapon, and prosecutors believe that he told officer Yanez that he had a pistol in his possession.
However, in the defense motion to dismiss the charges, Yanez and his attorneys allege that the victim's negligence played a role in the shooting. According to their motion memorandum, Castile's blood tests reveal he had a high THC level, indicating that Castile was intoxicated from smoking marijuana. They further allege that he could not look at officer Yanez and was not complying with his orders to place his hands on the steering wheel.
Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, was in the passenger seat and live streamed the shooting's aftermath, maintaining that Castile was not reaching for his gun and was doing what the officer was asking of him.
When asked when a judge might be assigned the case, Gray responded, "I expect within the next week."
Once that is finalized, the parties will sit down for a scheduling conference to put the trial on a timeline.
That means that no real action on any of the motions or arguments will be held until early January of 2017.