Before fatal shooting, Minn. officer smelled trouble

The acquittal of police officer Jeronimo Yanez in the shooting of Philando Castile last week reignited debates about both racial profiling and prosecuting police officers. But one key detail often overlooked is marijuana, and the apparently deadly consequences of smoking it in public.

As Yanez approached Castile’s car, he smelled pot and saw a young girl in the back seat. Yanez testified that when Castile announced he had a gun in his pocket, he feared for his life, reasoning that if Castile was capable of driving stoned with a child in the car, what else was he capable of?

This was not a small detail. It was a key aspect of defense attorney Earl Gray’s closing: “Guns and drugs don’t mix. This is a classic example of Philando Castile not following orders, he was stoned,” Gray argued. The pot smell, he argued, made Yanez fear for his life in the first place, and Castile, being high, was unable to follow Yanez’s orders. The result, the defense claimed, was seven shots into the car. The girl whose safety Yanez was concerned about moments earlier was now suddenly in the line of fire. The jurors voted unanimously to acquit Yanez on all charges.

Because Yanez was not wearing a body camera we will never know for sure if he saw Castile’s gun. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who filmed that haunting Facebook video immediately after Castile was shot, claims he was not reaching for his gun. In the dashcam video Yanez screams, “Stop reaching for it!” at Castile, who responds with “I’m not reaching for it!” Both men sound pretty convincing.

It is also important to note that when Yanez approached the vehicle he believed he was confronting a robbery suspect. Had it been a routine traffic stop, the smell of marijuana would likely have been enough for Yanez to order Castile to exit the vehicle, which may have prevented the shooting. Also, had Yanez not opened fire it is likely Castile could have been arrested for child endangerment, OUI, and then lost his right to carry — though none of those crimes carries a death sentence.

In Minnesota, pot possession is still at least a misdemeanor. In Massachusetts it is legal to carry up to an ounce, and the smell of weed is not enough for an officer to search a vehicle. But in the eyes of the Minnesota court, the smell was enough to make an officer reasonably fear for his life when confronting a plainly docile motorist. Marijuana was certainly not the only reason Philando Castile was shot, but its use as a justification for it should be troubling to everyone.