Any opinions about a St. Anthony police officer’s decision to fatally shoot Philando Castile held by special agents who investigated the case are irrelevant and should not be allowed in the officer’s trial, prosecutors say.
In a countermotion filed by state prosecutors in Ramsey County District Court, prosecutors responded Monday to an earlier defense motion that demanded the state turn over any such testimony as it builds its case of manslaughter charges against Officer Jeronimo Yanez from the July 6 shooting.
Yanez is accused of recklessly firing his gun at Castile during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights after Castile informed the officer that he had a weapon on him.
Castile, 32, was licensed to carry a firearm. He was struck seven times and died at the scene. His girlfriend, who was also in the car, live-streamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook, sparking protests.
Castile was black. Yanez is Hispanic.
The defense has alleged that Castile refused to listen to Yanez’s commands and was reaching for his gun when Yanez, in fear for his life, decided to shoot him. The state refutes that claim and has maintained that Castile’s gun was lodged deep in his pocket when Yanez fired.
In its motion, the defense stated that opinions about Yanez’s use of force by Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents charged with investigating his actions were “clearly important” to his case.
His attorneys also indicated they expected the agents’ perspectives to support their client, writing in their motion that “several statements” had been made to Yanez by officers following the shooting that “explicitly or implicitly approved” of his actions.
But prosecutors argued BCA agents’ opinion about what happened doesn’t matter because they weren’t there at the time, they said in their written statement Monday.
“Lay witnesses may testify by means of opinion and inferences only when such testimony is based on firsthand knowledge,” prosecutors wrote. “No BCA special agents were present. Because no BCA Special Agent has firsthand knowledge, his or her opinion … is irrelevant, immaterial and inadmissible.”
The attorneys went on to write that BCA agents might hold different beliefs than the defense expects.
“It is equally possible the special agents of the BCA … might be of the opinion that an officer shooting a stopped motorist repeatedly, to death, based on the alleged belief that the motorist might be reaching for an unseen firearm … is an unreasonable and illegal use of deadly force,” according to the state’s countermotion.
Yanez’s defense attorneys have said that the officer saw Castile’s gun before he fired.
The state’s counterclaim was in response to one of several motions filed by the defense earlier this month.
Other motions argued that the case should be tried outside the Twin Cities area because of claims of biased media reports, that expert testimony used by Ramsey County attorney John Choi in his charging decision be suppressed, and that the manslaughter charge facing Yanez be dropped.
In addition to second-degree manslaughter, Yanez faces two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a weapon.
The prosecution has yet to file responses to the other motions.
A hearing on the arguments is set for April 4.