美国国家公共电台 NPR Trial Nears For Minnesota Police Officer Who Shot Philando Castile

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Jury selection is starting today in St. Paul, Minn., for the trial of a policeman charged with killing¹ an African-American motorist. Philando Castile was the man shown on live video as he was dying in a car. Here is Matt Sepic from Minnesota Public Radio.

MATT SEPIC, BYLINE²: Here on Larpenteur Avenue, a four-lane road that goes through the Twin City suburb of Falcon³ Heights, police officer Jeronimo Yanez pulled over a 1997 Oldsmobile on the evening of July 6. Over the police radio, Yanez told his partner that he thought the driver fit the description of a suspect in a convenience store robbery that happened down the road just a few days earlier.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JERONIMO YANEZ: The driver looks more like one of our suspects just because of the wide-set nose.

SEPIC: Seventy-four seconds after Yanez activated⁴ his squad⁵ lights, he fired seven shots at 32-year-old Philando Castille as he lay dying, Castile's girlfriend Diamond Reynolds began live-streaming on Facebook. Her 4-year-old daughter watched from the backseat.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

DIAMOND REYNOLDS: Please don't tell me my boyfriend just went like that.

YANEZ: Keep your hands where they are please.

REYNOLDS: Yes, I will sir. I'll keep my hands where they are. Please don't tell me this, lord. Please, Jesus, don't tell me that he's gone.

SEPIC: Castile who worked for years as a school cafeteria supervisor⁶ had a legally permitted handgun in his pocket. Prosecutors⁷ say he told the officer that while trying to pull out his driver's license⁸. They also say Yanez warned Castile three times not to remove the gun, and Castile said repeatedly that he was not going for his weapon.

According to the criminal complaint, Castile's last words were I wasn't reaching for it. As the video rocketed around social media, weeks of protests shut down freeways in the Twin Cities and spurred an encampment outside the governor's residence. Four months later, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi charged Yanez with second degree manslaughter and dangerous discharge of a firearm. Yanez told state investigators⁹ that he feared for his life, but Choi argues Castile never threatened the officer.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN CHOI: The mere¹⁰ mention or presence of a firearm alone cannot justify¹¹ the use of deadly force.

SEPIC: The officer's attorney is trying to get a judge to dismiss the case. They argued among other things that Castile was negligent¹² in his own death. The defense¹³ lawyers claim he was driving while high on marijuana and did not follow Yanez's commands. When you drive around this mostly white suburb that sits between Minneapolis and St. Paul, you'll see signs in some front yard saying Falcon Heights the nation is watching.

At meetings with city leaders over the last year, many residents said Castile's death came amid a long history of racial profiling of drivers passing through this town. The police department is undergoing a voluntary review by the U.S. Justice Department. While taking a break from mowing¹⁴ his lawn, 54-year-old Ron Brisbois says he hasn't reached any conclusions about the case, but he is glad the process will play out in a public courtroom.

RON BRISBOIS: I think it was appropriate that charges were filed, and I think it's appropriate now that a jury will hear the testimony¹⁵. And I think that's the way the system is intended to work.

SEPIC: This appears to be the first time a Minnesota police officer is being tried for shooting a civilian¹⁶. Across the country in the last dozen years, there have been thousands of police shootings, but academic research shows only 80 officers were charged and just a third were convicted.

Along Larpenteur Avenue near the spot where Castile died, the temporary memorials of balloons and candles are gone. In their place is a modest three-sided polished wooden monument. The words of Castile's mother Valerie are inscribed¹⁷ on one side noting her son's soft-spoken nature. It reads you never talked much here, but you're making a lot of noise now. For NPR News, I'm Matt Sepic in Minneapolis.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

4 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

5 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

6 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

7 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

8 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

11 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

12 negligent   

adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的

参考例句：

• The committee heard that he had been negligent in his duty.委员会听说他玩忽职守。
• If the government is proved negligent,compensation will be payable.如果证明是政府的疏忽，就应支付赔偿。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

14 mowing   

n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lawn needs mowing. 这草坪的草该割了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• "Do you use it for mowing?" “你是用它割草么？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

15 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

16 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

17 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》