Photo: Mesquite Police Department/ AP; Facebook
Amber Guyger, 31, the white off-duty Dallas police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black man inside his own apartment last September, is on trial for murder — and that trial is set to begin today.
Opening statements were expected to begin at 9 a.m.,according to theDallas Morning News, and jurors will be tasked with determining whether Guyger’s killing of Botham Jean, a 26-year-old accountant from St. Lucia, was a crime, and if so, what type.
Guyger’s lawyers could argue Guyger made a “mistake of fact” when she killed Jean, theDallas Morning Newsreports — meaning that Guyger believed she was in her own home and needed to defend herself against Jean.
She has pleaded not guilty, with her attorney calling the shooting “a terrible tragedy that resulted from a true mistake,”CNN reports.
Guyger may face life in prison if convicted of murder. (She had initially been charged with manslaughter in the case, but was later indicted on murder charges.)
The trial is expected to last about two weeks, and Guyger will reportedly be free on bond throughout.
She told investigators at the time that she accidentally entered Jean’s apartment thinking it was her own, and that she believed Jean was an intruder. (She lived on a different floor than the victim.)
Jean worked as an accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers and originally hailed from Saint Lucia. He was a graduate of Arkansas’ Harding University, his family told CNN.
Though each apartment required a “unique door key, with an electronic chip” to gain access, Jean’s front door was “slightly ajar” when Guyger arrived and it opened “under the force” of her entering her key, the affidavit claims.
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Inside, the apartment “was nearly completely dark,” Guyger told investigators, adding that when she saw Jean she assumed he was a burglar.
She said she drew her weapon and “gave verbal commands” to Jean that she claimed he ignored, the affidavit states. She then fired her service revolver twice, hitting Jean once in the torso.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Merritt told reporters he had two witnesses — sisters who lived in the complex — who allege they heard Guyger pounding on Jean’s front door in the moments before the gunfire.
Jean’s mother told CNNshe wants justice for her middle child, a church-going a cappella singer who was devoted to charity work (fter his death, his family created afoundation in his name).“My hope for the trial is for my son to get justice … that the person who inflicted harm on him gets punished for the crime that she committed.”
source: people.com
