Philando Castile's character and past should not be scrutinized in the trial of the officer who fatally shot him, prosecutors argued.
Attorneys representing Officer Jeronimo Yanez have filed notice that they want to present evidence about contested facts on Castile's permit-to-carry application and his arrest and driving records, along with his girlfriend's Facebook pages.
But prosecutors said the evidence, which could show "alleged past associations with gang members 10 years ago," is irrelevant to the central question: Was Yanez's use of force reasonable when he shot Castile?
"The only purpose in admitting any of this evidence would be to try to attack Castile's character," prosecutors wrote in a motion dated May 10.
Those issues and several more will be argued at a 9 a.m. pretrial hearing Tuesday in preparation for Yanez's May 30 trial.
Yanez, 29, a St. Anthony police officer, was charged in November with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm for killing Castile, 32, during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights on July 6. Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her then-4-year-old daughter were also present.
Yanez's attorneys have said in a previous motion that Castile lied about his alleged marijuana use when he completed a permit-to-carry application. They listed that application on their exhibit list, and asked Ramsey County District Court Judge William H. Leary III to allow them to present evidence about Castile's "marijuana consumption in general …"
Prosecutors argued that the permit issued to Castile by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in 2015 should be excluded at trial because it was not known to Yanez at the time.
