Officer's defense can bring up Philando Castile's marijuana use, judge rules

[progree]

8. *IF he was reaching for his gun after the cop told him not to, then yes, that is justification to me

That's a big IF, I realize. One would have to believe his version. Otherwise, of course it wasn't justified.

On the video'd dialog, depends on whether the jury believes her version, or his. I suspect most prospective jurors have heard about her recent issues. On the other hand, they have the very shaky cop on tape in the aftermath. Sadly, ultimately, it's he said she said.

As for other cop shootings of black men that we've seen in the news in the last 2 or 3 years, I think the vast majority of cases were definitely NOT justified. A lot could be avoided just by taking the time to talk and deescalate.

If I was a cop, it wouldn't matter to me whether it was a black, brown, or white person reaching for a gun. I'd be equally scared. (Again assuming that is what happened, which is doubtful to me, after reading the transcript of the video again
https://www.yahoo.com/news/read-transcript-video-taken-during-204906434.html?nhp=1 ).