Jury Seated in Castile Trial

Jury Being Put Together Today

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – A jury has been seated for the trial of a Minnesota police officer charged in the shooting death of a black motorist after defense attorneys unsuccessfully tried to block one of two black jurors in the final group.

Defense attorney Earl Gray argued that an Ethiopian-American woman in the jury pool didn’t understand the criminal justice system well enough to follow the proceedings.

Prosecutor Jeff Paulsen called that a pretext to block the woman because of her race. Judge William Leary rejected the defense challenge.

The only other minority on the panel is a young black man. The panel is made up of 12 jurors and three alternates.

Officer Jeronimo Yanez is charged with manslaughter in the July shooting of Philando Castile. Yanez’s attorneys say the officer was reacting to the presence of a gun. Yanez is Latino.