Wearing a black suit and blue tie, St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez made his second appearance in Ramsey County District Court Monday for his alleged role in the death of motorist Philando Castile.
The short hearing included little more than Ramsey County Judge Leonardo Castro’s declaration that the matter next would be assigned to a judge. No plea was entered.
Later Monday afternoon, it had been determined that Ramsey County District Judge Edward Wilson would preside over the case.
The only words Yanez said during the hearing were, “Good afternoon, your honor.” His attorneys, Earl Gray, Thomas Kelly and Paul Engh, said previously that Yanez would enter a not guilty plea at a later date.
Sitting in the front row of the courtroom on the side reserved for Yanez’s supporters was St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth. Beside him sat four other men as well as a man and woman who declined to comment after the hearing.
Mangseth also declined to comment.
Castile’s mother, Valerie Castile, was at the hearing, along with other family and friends of Castile’s. One woman wore a shirt bearing Castile’s picture along with the words, “I am not a statistic.”
Yanez, 28, faces a felony manslaughter charge after the fatal shooting of the 32-year-old black man during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights July 6. He also was charged with two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.
Castile, who was licensed to carry a firearm, reportedly told Yanez before the shooting that he had a gun with him.
Yanez is the first Minnesota officer in modern memory to be charged in such an incident.
The shooting gained national attention when Castile’s girlfriend, who was with him in the car at the time, began live-streaming the aftermath on Facebook. Protests over police shootings broke out across the Twin Cities.
In announcing his charging decision in November, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said its review of the evidence indicated Castile “never removed nor tried to remove his handgun from his right pocket, which was a foot deep,” before Yanez shot him.
In fact, during his short interaction with the officer, Castile reportedly told Yanez he “wasn’t pulling it out,” Choi said.
His final words before Yanez fired were allegedly, “I wasn’t reaching for it.”
“I would submit that no reasonable officer knowing, seeing or hearing what officer Yanez did would have used deadly force,” Choi said during the November press conference.
THE OFFICER’S DEFENSE
Yanez’s attorneys have said previously that Yanez’s reaction was in response to the “presence” of a gun in the car and that he was in fear for his life and the life of his fellow officer at the scene when he decided to shoot.
Last week Yanez’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming that Castile was high on marijuana during the stop and thereby negligent in his own death.
Prosecutors have not filed a response to the motion.
After the hearing Monday, a member of the defense team said “several” more motions were planned.
Yanez, a married father of one, is a four-year veteran of the St. Anthony police department.
THE JUDGE
The judge who will preside over the case, Edward Wilson, was appointed by Gov. Rudy Perpich in 1987 and elected to the bench in 1988, 1994, 2000, 2006 and 2012.
Wilson, who is black, graduated from Macalester College in 1970 and went on to obtain a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1974.
His professional experience includes stints at the Neighborhood Justice Center in St. Paul and the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis. Throughout his career, he has served on the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, the Supreme Court Racial Bias Task Force and the St. Paul Anti-Drug Task Force.
He also chairs the board of directors for Project Remand, Inc., and is on the board of directors for the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center.