Name: Former Dallas cop Amber Guyger asking appellate court to toss murder conviction for killing Botham Jean
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Former Dallas cop Amber Guyger asking appellate court to toss murder conviction for killing Botham Jean

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11:41 AM on Apr 26, 2021 CDT — Updated at 12:53 PM on Apr 26, 2021 CDTUpdate: This story has been updated with comments from Botham Jean’s mother, Allison Jean.Lawyers for former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger will make their case Tuesday before a panel of appellate justices to toss her murder conviction for killing Botham Jean in his own apartment. Dallas County prosecutors say the jury’s verdict should stand.Guyger, convicted of murder in 2019 for shooting Jean, argued in court records that, at most, she should be convicted of criminally negligent homicide. That charge is a lesser felony and punishable by up to two years in prison.Guyger testified she mistakenly entered the wrong apartment one floor above hers and shot Jean, believing he was an intruder, on Sept. 6, 2018. Guyger had just finished her shift and was still in uniform when she shot Jean with her department-issued weapon. Jean was eating ice cream on his couch when Guyger entered the apartment.Jurors heard six days of testimony before n October 2019. She is serving a 10-year prison sentence.Related:Guyger’s lawyers say that although she intended to shoot Jean when she fired her gun, a necessary finding for a murder conviction, she believed she had the right to act in self defense. Texas allows for deadly force to be used in self defense situations.“A rational jury would have concluded that Guyger was reasonable in her belief that she entered her apartment, saw an intruder who did not show his hands, and was justified in using deadly force in self defense,” her lawyers wrote in a brief filed with a request for a hearing.But the jury that convicted Guyger considered the state’s castle doctrine, the right to use deadly force to defend yourself, when deciding whether to convict Guyger. They rejected the idea that it applied to her.During deliberations, the jury sent the court a question about the castle doctrine.“What would’ve happened if Botham would’ve shot her for coming into his home?” said an attorney for Jean’s family, Daryl K. Washington said during the trial, citing the jury’s question. “Would he have been able to use the castle doctrine?”Guyger’s attorneys wrote that the justices for the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas should acquit Guyger of murder. If the judges instead convict her of criminally negligent homicide, they should order a new trial on her punishment, her lawyers further said.Dallas County prosecutors for District Attorney John Creuzot are fighting to uphold her conviction and say Guyger’s conviction is appropriate. They argue she is only trying to undo a verdict she didn’t want.“Because intentionally killing a man in his own apartment is murder, the State of Texas submits that [Guyger’s] conviction is just fine, and this Court should affirm it,” prosecutors wrote in a brief filed ahead of the hearing.The hearing will be streamed on the . Guyger, who is serving her sentence in a Texas prison, will not be in the courtroom.Jean’s mother, Allison, said Guyger’s decision to appeal has delayed the healing process for her family. She hadn’t planned on watching the hearing, but she changed her mind after realizing the media and others will ask about the court’s decision once it’s over.”I know everyone has a right of appeal, and I believe she’s utilizing that right,” Allison Jean said. “But on the other hand, there is one person who cannot utilize any more rights because she took him away.“So having gotten 10 years, only 10, for killing someone who was in the prime of his life and doing no wrong in the comfort of his home, I believe that she ought to accept, take accountability for it and move on,” she added.Staff Writer Kelli Smith contributed to this report.Related:Get email alerts on breaking news stories as soon as they happen.By signing up you agree to our

11:41 AM on Apr 26, 2021 CDT — Updated at 12:53 PM on Apr 26, 2021 CDTUpdate: This story has been updated with comments from Botham Jean’s mother, Allison Jean.Lawyers for former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger will make their case Tuesday before a panel of appellate justices to toss her murder conviction for killing Botham Jean in his own apartment. Dallas County prosecutors say the jury’s verdict should stand.Guyger, convicted of murder in 2019 for shooting Jean, argued in court records that, at most, she should be convicted of criminally negligent homicide. That charge is a lesser...

Former Dallas cop Amber Guyger asking appellate court to toss murder conviction for killing Botham Jean

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