Minn. officer acquitted of manslaughter for shooting Philando Castile during traffic stop
The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop was acquitted on all charges by a jury Friday, a decision that came nearly a year after the encounter was partially streamed online before a rapt nation in the midst of a painful reckoning over shootings by law enforcement.
The verdict was reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune and other outlets Friday.
Officer Jeronimo Yanez pulled over Castile in Falcon Heights, a suburb near Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the officer later said he thought Castile matched the description of a suspect in a recent robbery. The stop quickly escalated. Yanez fired into the car, saying later he thought Castile was going for his gun, something disputed by Castile’s girlfriend, who began filming the aftermath with her phone.
The jurors in the case had been deliberating since Monday. Prosecutors charged Yanez with second-degree manslaughter in November, a felony, saying that “no reasonable officer” would have used deadly force in the same situation. He was also charged with two felony counts for intentionally discharging the gun.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/06/16/minn-officer-acquitted-of-manslaughter-for-shooting-philando-castile-during-traffic-stop/?hpid=hp_no-name_no-name%3Apage%2Fbreaking-news-bar&tid=a_breakingnews&utm_term=.8db683d7d585
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