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.

Philando Castile

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.

"His liability for shooting Castile must be based on the facts that were known or reasonably knowable to him at the time he pulled the trigger," prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors made a similar argument about Castile's arrest and driving records, noting that he had no felony convictions and that many offenses he was stopped for were dismissed.

Court records show that Castile had been pulled over at least 52 times since 2002 and had been cited 86 times for minor offenses such as speeding, not wearing a seat belt, or having expired license tabs. About half were dismissed.

The defense's exhibit list also included "Diamond Reynolds Facebook Pages," but did not specify what the content would include. Prosecutors wrote that they were "aware of some unflattering videos and photographs of Reynolds and Castile that were at one time posted on Facebook."

Prosecutors argued that Leary should exclude the video and photos from trial. Reynolds live-streamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook, and that video is expected to be shown at trial.

"Other videos and photographs of Reynolds and Castile were obtained by the State during the investigation and disclosed to the defense," prosecutors wrote. "None of them have anything to do with the traffic stop at issue and their existence was not know to Officer Yanez at the time of the incident."

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib