ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota police officer has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and other charges in the July shooting death of a black man.
St. Anthony Officer Jeronimo Yanez entered his plea Monday in a brief hearing. Ramsey County District Judge William Leary III set a May 30 trial date.
Prosecutors say Yanez shot 32-year-old Philando Castile during a July 6 traffic stop after Castile told him he was armed. Castile’s girlfriend was in the car and streamed the shooting’s aftermath live on Facebook. Authorities later discovered Castile had a permit to carry a weapon.
Attorneys for Yanez, who is Latino, have argued that their client feared for his life and had no choice but to shoot Castile.
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his gun did it, not him. an obvious case of ‘just a bad gun’. huh?