Posted on 09/24/2019 8:31:35 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
DALLAS - The second day of testimony in the murder trial for former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger started out with audio and video evidence from the night she shot her upstairs neighbor.
Guyger is charged with murder for the death of 26-year-old Botham Jean in September of Jean last year.
She claims the shooting was accidental. She told police she went into Jean’s apartment thinking it was her own and shot him because she thought he was an intruder.
The state’s first witness Tuesday morning was the 911 call taker who received Guyger’s call. Guyger listened and occasionally wiped away tears as her 911 call was played in court.
“Oh my God, I thought it was my apartment. F***!,” she says on the call.
“I thought it was my apartment,” she repeats over and over.
Jurors also saw graphic body camera video from Officer Michael Lee. He was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene the night of the shooting.
The video shows Lee running up four flights of stairs and through hallways to find Guyger in Jean’s apartment.
“I thought it was my apartment,” Gugyer frantically repeats once the officer arrives.
In the video, Lee gives Jean CPR, trying heroic efforts to keep him alive until paramedics arrive.
“Come on, Chief!” he yells repeated.
As the trial began Monday, the state showed the jury explicit text messages and talked about Snapchats Guyger sent to her police partner Martin Rivera that night in September 2018.
She also spent 16 minutes on the phone with him on her way home. She then parked on the wrong floor at the Southside Flats and went into Jean’s apartment instead of her own.
Prosecutors also said Guyger missed several other cues that she was on the wrong floor including a bright red door mat outside Jean’s door and the smell of marijuana in his apartment.
After the shooting, Guyger called 911 and continued sending Rivera messages. One stated, “I need you.” Guyger and Rivera deleted their messages after the shooting, prosecutors said.
Guyger’s said argued what happened that night was just an unfortunate set of circumstances that led to Jean’s untimely death.
“She's thinking. ‘Oh, my God. There's an intruder in my apartment’ and she's face-to-face with him. She's within ten yards of him and he starts approaching her. And she reacts like any police officer would, who has a gun with confronting a burglary suspect,” said Robert Rogers, Gugyer’s defense attorney.
But, I don’t think she is using the Texas Castle Doctrine as her defense, so that whole answer, while well thought out, has nothing to do with this particular case.
And that is why I think manslaughter is 100% justifiable and at the very least, I think she should get found guilty of that!
But, she is charged with MURDER. In Texas you must have INTENT to kill. In other words, you went there with the intent to murder someone. Unless the prosecutors can show a cause OTHER THAN A MISTAKE, that Amber went to Botham Jean’s apartment, then it will be hard to prove that she entered that apartment with the INTENT to KILL Mr. Jean.
She “claims” a lot of things. Our prisons are filled with convicted criminals who all swear they’re innocent.
She has NEVER said that she was “innocent.”
Aw, did somebody pull your pigtails? Porbrecita.
LOL!
We have similar here in Az. But if this was a civilian rather than an officer there would be no question as to how it would turn out. Even in protection of person and property. But as a trained officer, an attempt to apprehend should have been default as first in the configuration string even if it was her property.
There’s something to be said about always locking your door.
Cops are trained not to enter? Lol, I can tell you aren’t a cop. But in in a case, she believed she was entering her own apartment. Police Department’s do not train officers on how to enter their own apartment.
It was a tragedy caused by a tired person and distractions. She needs to pay a price, but it wasn’t murder
“NONE of it proves or even suggests that Amber decided to (on purpose) park on the wrong floor and walk into Botham Jean’s apartment with the INTENT to commit MURDER.”
Right, I agree 100%.
She was paying insufficient attention and when startled hauled off and shot to kill. That’s not murder, but it’s not just a garden variety mistake either.
Screwing up to the extent she did IS criminal. She should do jail time for manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, whatever the charge is in Texas. I’m really not even sure why they charged her with murder, unless they’ve got some evidence of motive that hasn’t been revealed.
Your tagline is self explanatory friend...
“Diversity is tolerance; diverse points of views will not be tolerated.”
I am not generally sympathetic to Pete Rose, but I loved his statement, that when he was in the Federal Pen, he was the only one of over 500 guys there, that was guilty ;)
13 hours at a desk is tiring also. That’s 8am to 9pm. That’s a long day. It’s silly to pretend she wasn’t tired.
Cussing? Lol... shoot someone, realize it was a mistake and you were in the wrong. I bet you’ll say more than “oopsies!”.
Oh You! I was halfway into thinking you were serious.
You should really use your sarc tag when being funny.
“””And she reacts like any police officer would, who has a gun with confronting a burglary suspect,”””
None of Amber’s fellow officers testified they would do what Amber did.
All of the fellow officers said the proper protocol was to take a defensive position and wait for back up.
Did you read the article? I’m quoting, and responding to, her attorney’s comment.
“””I pray that you are NEVER allowed on a jury trial”””
Sorry to disappoint you but I have been summoned four times to jury duty and I have been selected each time.
Apparently, the prosecution and defense attorneys have had a better opinion of my fairness and impartiality than you do.
She is clearly guilty of at least manslaughter. But, there may be reasonable doubt as to whether she had the mens rea for 1st Degree Murder.
“””Cops are trained not to enter? Lol, I can tell you aren’t a cop.”””
I am only repeating what the Dallas police witnesses are saying under oath.
And the defense attorneys are not challenging what those Dallas police witnesses are saying about proper protocol before entering an unlocked door.
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