Diminutive YouTuber Jose “Chille” DeCastro’s first day of his federal court case against the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department was highlighted by the seating of a jury and testimony from the police officer who determined probable cause for DeCastro’s March 2023 arrest that is at the center of the lawsuit.
According to DeCastro’s personal account on livestreams aired separately on YouTube and Instagram, he was pleased with how the day went as he was able to eliminate a good number of potential jurors for having relatives that were either active or former police officers.
DeCastro stressed his belief that someone could not be impartial with a relative who was serving as a police officer. He then bemoaned the fact that his jury contained two jurors who had direct relatives who were officers.
The YouTuber singled out one female juror, whose husband is a retired cop, and speculated that she was beaten and cheated on by her spouse. The Youtuber noted that he believed that two in five police officers abuse their wives and implied that the juror would be more prone to siding with the police due to the alleged abuse.
According to the court minutes, Sgt. Erland Torrey was the only witness who took the stand today and was excused after his testimony was completed.
DeCastro lashed out at Torrey, accusing Torrey of being untruthful and said he had trouble containing himself when Torrey said a mistruth while on the stand. The YouTuber said he had to smile and shake his head during Torrey’s testimony as he could not directly confront the police sergeant.
The YouTuber is suing the LVMPD for an incident in 2023 in downtown Las Vegas where he was convicted of interfering in a traffic stop and obstructing an officer. He served roughly four months of a six-month sentence before having this conviction overturned on appeal.
He is suing the LVMPD in this case for violating his civil rights and inflicting injuries on his Ulnar nerve and his testicles. He is separately suing those involved in his conviction and acquittal in another lawsuit in Nevada.
DeCastro disputed Torrey’s testimony that he was a few feet away from the traffic stop when he personally told his fans that he was 12 feet away from the traffic stop. After his attorney, Michael Mee, showed Torrey video of DeCastro backing up, DeCastro again appeared angered that Torrey said that DeCastro backed up a minimal amount, while DeCastro said that he backed up several feet while the arresting officer walked towards him.
Also bought up as an issue by the YouTuber was what he said was the defense’s attempts to paint him as a vexatious litigant in their opening statements. While he admitted he had eight current court cases, he said that he did not appreciate the defense’s claim that he was a professional YouTuber who did things for “clicks and views.”
On his Instagram feed, DeCastro proclaimed that he had been an executive for multiple major companies but walked away to be a full-time civil rights activist. He then asked that if he was so horrible, why do millions of people tune into him on Facebook and Instagram each day and why did millions more used to follow him on TikTok.
DeCastro also chastised Sgt. Torrey for describing him as being “hostile and aggressive” at the scene of his arrest. He told his fans that he was not hostile or aggressive and if police really wanted to see him hostile or aggressive, he’d be willing to show them how hostile and aggressive he could be.
Thanking his fans, DeCastro said that his fans have been especially helpful in making donations to his GoFundMe campaign, which took in nearly $10,000.00 in donations at the start of the day.
DeCastro won the day with $994.00 in new donations to his Stand with Chille, Delete Lawz, Federal Trial Feb 9, 2026 fund. The First Amendment Protection Agency placed second for the day with a $120.00 take. No other campaigns that we follow received donations for the day.
The YouTuber’s trial is set to reconvene at 9:30AM local time on Tuesday, with 3 full days of testimony scheduled for the rest of the week.
