>>They “looked like” suspects in a robbery, then he informed the cop he had a licensed gun, when asked to produce papers he reached to the papers, cop shot him. <<
From the StarTribune in MN:
“Defense attorneys argued that Castile was culpably negligent in the shooting because he volunteered that he possessed a gun without disclosing that he had a permit to carry it, that he reached for it instead of keeping his hands visible, and that he was high on marijuana, rendering him incapable of following Yanez’s order not to reach for the gun. Yanez testified last week that he fired because he feared for his life.
“A gun was recovered from Castile’s right front shorts pocket as medics and police prepared to move him onto a backboard. Castile had a permit to carry the handgun.”
That’s the nice thing about a jury trial. The jury gets to hear both sides. He was stopped for a tail light. If he looked like a robbery suspect, that would heighten the officer’s tension. According to the above report, Castile did not inform Yanez that he had a permit to carry, but reached for something instead of following instructions to keep his hands on the wheel. As reported, he did have a gun in his pocket. He was also high on marijuana, adding to the mix. What could go wrong?
Oh, and the black jurors on the panel were apparently not among the two holdouts against acquittal.
I’ve paid no attention to this case, but somehow I find it an optimistic note that the Twin Cities isn’t being consumed by rage right now. I’m not so sure that would have been the case if President Obama were still in office. In fact, I’m not so sure it would have even been the case prior to the shooting at the Congressional ball practice last week. Maybe people are finally starting to decide it’s all gone too far the past couple of years?
None of those things should be a death sentence. A guy who tells the cop he has a gun is not a threat. The cop screwed up, he’s a trigger happy moron. The jury screwed up, they got snowed by the usual “cops are awesome” BS. Period. This was murder, and he got away with it.
Thank You Norseman. The people here with knee jerk reactions and know better than the Jury... heh heh
It can be a bit of a problem when police witnesses routinely commit perjury in order to protect their fellow officer—at any cost.
Heck, they're often trained to commit perjury. It's been documented.
Against that backdrop, juries often get it wrong.
As a white man over 50, my experience is that I've seen several cases where cops get away with murder because their fellow officers lied on the stand.
Why? Because their "blue code" is more important than Justice, that's why...