MINNEAPOLIS _ A pool of 50 prospective jurors was sworn in Tuesday as trial opened for the St. Anthony police officer charged with killing Philando Castile.
Court was adjourned for the day about 10:25 a.m. local time so the potential jurors could spend the afternoon filling out questionnaires. One juror, a woman, was immediately dismissed after defense attorneys told the court that she was related to Yanez.
The pool included about a half a dozen people of color.
"It could have been a little more diverse," said John Thompson, a close friend of Castile's who attended Tuesday's proceedings. "I look at the jury and say, 'They're not diverse enough,' but, can they be fair?"
Yanez, 29, is charged in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree manslaughter for shooting Castile, 32, and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm for endangering Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her daughter, then 4, who were in the car. Reynolds used her cellphone camera to live-stream the shooting's aftermath on Facebook.
Jurors will be questioned individually starting Wednesday morning.
