ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Latest on the trial of a Minnesota police officer in the fatal shooting of motorist Philando Castile (all times local):
5 p.m.
A Minnesota police officer who responded after another officer fatally shot a black motorist says he saw a gun sliding out of the man’s front right pocket.
Roseville police Officer Juan Toran testified Tuesday that he was performing CPR on Philando Castile and he saw the gun as paramedics rolled Castile onto a backboard. Toran says he shouted “Gun!” and removed it.
Castile was fatally shot July 6 by St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez after he told Yanez he had a gun. Yanez is on trial for manslaughter.
St. Paul paramedic Eric Torgerson testified that he saw an officer reach deep into Castile’s pocket to pull out the gun. He didn’t see it sliding out of the pocket.
Yanez’s attorneys have said he reacted to the presence of a gun, but prosecutors say Yanez’s actions were unreasonable.
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3:20 p.m.
A Minnesota police officer who fatally shot a black motorist can be heard on squad car audio afterward telling a fellow officer that he doesn’t know where the motorist’s gun was.
The audiotape is key evidence in Officer Jeronimo Yanez’s manslaughter trial in the death of 32-year-old Philando Castile last July in a St. Paul suburb.
Castile had a permit to carry a handgun and told Yanez when he approached his car that he was carrying a gun. A little over a minute later, Castile was fatally wounded.
Yanez’s attorneys say he reacted properly to the presence of a gun. They also said in opening statements that Castile’s hand was on the grip of his gun.
On the audiotape, Yanez can be heard telling a fellow officer, “I don’t know where the gun was.”
Yanez’s partner, Joseph Kauser, testified Tuesday that Yanez later told him that he saw a gun on Castile.
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1:25 p.m.
The police officer backing up his partner in a Minnesota traffic stop that led to the death of a motorist last year says there wasn’t enough concern ahead of the stop to treat it as a felony stop.
Officer Joseph Kauser says his partner, Jeronimo Yanez, told him he thought driver Philando Castile resembled a suspect in a recent armed robbery. But Kauser said there wasn’t enough concern to handle the stop as high-risk, in which occupants are ordered out of the car with their hands up before officers approach.
Instead, it was treated as “stop and ID.”
Kauser stood on the passenger side of the car. He says he didn’t see anything alarming before Yanez fired several shots into the car, killing Castile. But he said his job was to watch the passengers, not the driver.
Yanez is charged with manslaughter in Castile’s death. His attorneys say he acted reasonably in response to a gun.
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10:50 a.m.
The girlfriend of a black motorist shot to death by a police officer during a traffic stop in Minnesota says she began streaming the event on Facebook because she feared for her own life.
Diamond Reynolds is testifying at the trial of Officer Jeronimo Yanez. Yanez is charged with manslaughter in the July death of 32-year-old Philando Castile in a St. Paul suburb.
Reynolds and her 4-year-old daughter were in the car when Castile was pulled over. She cried as squad car video, her Facebook video and still images of Castile were shown in court.
Asked why she took out her phone and began filming the event after Castile was shot, Reynolds said she wanted to make sure if she died “that people would know the truth.”
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12:10 a.m.
The girlfriend of a black man killed by a Minnesota police officer is expected to continue testifying in the officer’s trial.
Diamond Reynolds began testifying Monday in the trial of St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez. Yanez has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in the July 6 death of Philando Castile.
Yanez, who is Latino, shot Castile during a traffic stop after Castile said he had a gun. Reynolds was in the car and livestreamed the shooting’s aftermath on Facebook.
Reynolds has already testified about her life with Castile and what she did on the day of the shooting, but she hasn’t yet talked about the shooting itself. She said Castile always carried his gun, and she saw him leave the apartment that morning with his firearm in its holster.
She’ll be back on the stand Tuesday morning.
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