VERDICT: Officer Jeronimo Yanez Found Not Guilty in Shooting of Philando Castile

FOX 9 - KMSP

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) –

A jury found St. Anthony, Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez not guilty on all counts Friday in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile last July.

Yanez was charged with manslaughter for the July 6, 2016 shooting of Castile during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. The shooting garnered national attention when Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, streamed the aftermath of the fatal shooting on Facebook Live.

It was the first time in Minnesota history a police officer had been charged with fatally shooting a citizen.

Yanez was also charged with two felony counts of intentional discharge of a firearm that endangers safety for firing his weapon with Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter also in the car. He was found not guilty.

The jury reached a verdict on after more approximately 29 hours of deliberations.

Yanez no longer with St. Anthony Police Department 

Yanez is no longer a police officer with the St. Anthony Police Department, the city announced on Friday.

According to a statement, Yanez will be offered a voluntary separation agreement to “help him transition to another career other than being a St. Anthony officer.”

Yanez will not return to active duty, the city said.

Statement from Diamond Reynolds 

Diamond Reynolds released a statement through her attorney regarding the verdict.

“I am incredibly disappointed with the jury’s verdict. My boyfriend, Philando Castile, was pulled over because, per Officer Yanez, he had a wide nose and looked like a suspect. He did nothing but comply with Officer YANEZ’s instructions to get his driver’s license. He was seatbelted and doing as he was told, when he was shot by Officer YANEZ who fired 7 shots into the vehicle where my 4 y/o daughter and I also sat. It is a sad state of affairs when this type of criminal conduct is condoned simply because Yanez is a policeman. God help America.”

The trial

The jury received the case on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, they re-watched Yanez’s dashcam video and Reynolds’ Facebook Live videos. The jurors also requested to review the transcript of Yanez’s interview with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, but Judge William H. Leery III denied their request.

By Wednesday, the jurors appeared to be at an impasse, prompting the judge to reread the jury instructions before sending them back into the room to keep deliberating.

About an hour into deliberations on Friday, the jury asked to have all of Yanez’s testimony reread, but the judge also denied that request. They reached a verdict shortly before 2:15 p.m.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Yanez never saw a gun and there was no reason for Castile to pull his gun out. The state’s use of force expert said in his testimony, that Yanez was not “objectively reasonable” in shooting Castile.

“You can’t blame Castile for Yanez not following his own training,” Prosecutor Jeff Paulsen said in his closing argument.

The defense claimed Castile disregarded Yanez’s orders during the traffic stop because he was stoned.
In his testimony, a tearful Yanez said Castile interrupted his instructions and started reaching for his gun.

“I was scared to death,” Yanez told the jury. “I thought I was going to die.”