Court watchers were disappointed on Monday as Jose “Chille” DeCastro’s Tuesday’s settlement conference in his on-going lawsuit against the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Force was canceled by Magistrate Judge Elayna J. Youchah.
DeCastro is currently suing the LVMPD for false arrest, excessive use of force and other charges related to his March 2023 arrest in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.
While the case was nearly dismissed last year when the LVMPD sought and received a partial summary judgment, DeCastro’s acquittal upon appeal of the base charges in state court caused Judge Andrew Gordon to reexamine if police had probable cause to arrest DeCatro.
The settlement conference was scheduled back in August as the next step in the Court’s procedures leading to trial, which is currently set for early next year.
There were signs of potential problems with the Tuesday court date over the weekend as DeCastro posted the following to his YouTube Community Page:
We had a family member go down and In the Hospital. I had to come and be with family and see my Mom. Ill be back Tuesday. Thank You Team DLZ
Chille
I may get an audit here when Im driving around
See ya Lator Gators
Shortly after DeCastro’s posting, attorney Michael Mee, who represents DeCastro in the lawsuit, filed an emergency motion asking to delay Tuesday’s settlement hearing.
In the motion, Mee claimed that his own grandmother was hospitalized and that he would not have daycare for his two small children as his own mother cared for her mother and his partner was out of town.
Based on this, the motion simply asked for a continuance until “a later date convenient to the Court and the parties.”
The motion itself was routine and was expected to be rubber stamped without protest, however both sides received a surprise when Magistrate Judge Youchah returned the following order:
MINUTE ORDER IN CHAMBERS of the Honorable Magistrate Judge Elayna J. Youchah on 9/22/2025. By Judicial Assistant: E. Santiago. After review of the parties’ respective positions, the Court finds a settlement conference will not advance resolution or impact the parties’ positions. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Settlement Conference set for September 23, 2025 is VACATED.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Emergency Motion to Continue Settlement Conference (ECF No. 118 ) is DENIED as moot. (no image attached) (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF – ES) (Entered: 09/22/2025)
The next hearing in the lawsuit is now set for February 3, 2026, a pre-trial Calendar Call set a week before the jury trial is scheduled to start on February 9, 2026.
Interest in the DeCastro case did nothing to spur the market over the weekend, as Saturday saw no donations go towards any of the campaigns that we follow.
Sunday was won by our own On-Going Expenses campaign, which brought in $125.00 in a single donation. Second place was taken by SeanPaul “Long Island Audit” Reyes with a $20.00 donation to his Help Me Fight These Unlawful Charges fund.
Monday saw a win for Reyes as the Help Me Fight These Unlawful Charges fund took in $176.00 to win the day.
Tuesday was again won by the Help Me Fight These Unlawful Charges campaign, which took in $50.00 in new donations and propelling Reyes to second straight win.
No other campaigns, including DeCastro’s three on-going GoFundMe campaigns, received donations during that time.
