Posted on 10/01/2019 10:33:27 AM PDT by Envisioning
DALLAS - A former Dallas police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man in his apartment was found guilty of murder by a Dallas County jury on Tuesday.
Guyger was off-duty but still in uniform after a long shift when she shot Botham Jean, a 26-year-old accountant from the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia. Murder carries a sentence of five to 99 years. The punishment phase, which will start Tuesday afternoon, will determine just how long her sentence will be.
Cheers erupted in the courthouse as the verdict was announced, and someone yelled "Thank you, Jesus!" In the hallway outside the courtroom where Guyger was tried, a crowd celebrated and said "black lives matter" in raised voices. When the prosecutors walked into the hall, they broke into cheers.
A lot of grey area here. Consider other “mistake of fact” situations. A police officer faced with a minor carrying what appears to be a rifle wielded carelessly toward the officer or others, but which turns out to be a toy replica witb the bright orange muzzle marker removed. This has happened, and the minor, who committed no crime, was shot and killed with no indictment of the involved officer.
I think you’re dismissing the case of highway accidents too flippantly. Fault most frequently IS determined, but no advanced criminal charges result, other than traffic tickets.
What are you saying? Your first sentence backs my point, a horrible mistake. And your second sentence? It still doesn’t show premeditation. And premeditation is the most important word in the legal definition of murder. She deserves manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide, but according to the LEGAL definition of murder, she did not commit it.
Well here you go, you guys were right! And it did not take too much deliberation.
No happy ending here for anyone. May this poor man who did NOTHING wrong Rest in Peace in the arms of the Lord.
Certainly the moral opinions of our FReeper family do not decide the case. Those jurors decide and the judge’s instructions were quite clear: Here she is. Do whatever you want with her.
Other state laws do not matter. Only Texas law matters. Perhaps we will hear some after-verdict juror interviews, but I will not hold my breath. She admitted that she intended to kill him. She did in fact kill him. It was up to her defense to prove that the killing was justified. That is an affirmative defense and the jury decided that she was not justified. The jury could have justified her and they did not.
Now sentencing. If they give her 5 years, then they are saying this is a tragic accident. If they give her 99 years then they are making an example of her. Look for 25 years or so, and she serves every day of it.
Correction and contradiction heartily welcomed. I never learned anything from somebody who agreed with me. And you do not need to be a lawyer either!
Adderall is a life wrecker and it is irresponsible for the medical community to prescribe it to anyone. It is prescription meth.
The neighbors’ testimony had no show your hands bullshit.
She testified she intended to kill him. A trained cop does not get to offer a scared little girl defense.
It won’t get overturned.
You should learn how to think straight.
The trained cop did not need to shoot anyone, she was dumb and stupid and mean to boot.
The door was open. How come y’all don’t get the facts straight?
She was there illegally.
“Link: Penal Code Chapter 30”
DUDE, CITE THE STATUTE.
“Was it her apartment? Was she invited it? Since the answer to is “no” then she was there illegally. “
You REALOY should look up the legal statute ...
I agree that Adderall is over prescribed, but ADD is real for some people. I know some people who take it in the morning and they earn in excess of $500k per year because Adderall helps them focus. There are very organized, have awesome families and take vacations to places most people can’t imagine; as long as it involves golfing.
I may be misunderstanding what you’re saying but i’m pretty sure Texas has first and second degree murder. This was a second degree conviction just referred to in Texas as murder. As opposed to first degree which is capital murder.
Seco
I may be misunderstanding what you’re saying but i’m pretty sure Texas has first and second degree murder. This was a second degree conviction just referred to in Texas as murder. As opposed to first degree which is capital murder.
Second degree is what they charged her with...and they also had the option of manslaughter on the table.
Sorry about the double post. Got a little antsy there.
And congrats on getting your CJ degree!
I have a masters in CJ but my undergraduate cj courses taught by law professors were my fav!
To clarify, I mean Texas has the equivalent to first and second.
That may be what you’re saying too. I thought you meant they went with the harsher charge because Texas doesn’t have differing degrees of murder. I was just saying they do.... they just don’t call it that.
Texas law does not require premeditation.
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