Female ex-police officer found guilty of killing black man in his apartment

A jury found Amber Guyger guilty of murder Tuesday for the killing of Botham Jean in September of last year. The former Dallas police officer now faces 5 to 99 years in prison. Applause could be heard from the audience and Jean’s family could be seen in tears after the verdict was announced.
The jury deliberated Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning over whether Guyger was guilty of murder or manslaughter when she shot her upstairs neighbor on Sept. 6, 2018. Guyger was still in uniform when she fatally shot Jean, and had just ended her shift when she returned to the apartment complex where they both lived in Dallas.
The case has received national attention following nationwide debate about police misconduct against people of color. Guyger is white and Jean was black. Judge Tammy Kemp reignited the debate on Monday after deciding the jury could consider the state’s “Castle Doctrine,” a legal exception that says a person in their home is not required to retreat before using deadly force on an intruder.
“This is a victory for black people in America,” Jean family attorney Lee Marritt told reporters after the verdict was announced.
Guyger was originally charged with manslaughter three days after the shooting took place. She was later fired by the Dallas Police Department and charges were increased to murder. The jury had to decide if she
was guilty of either murder or the lesser charge of manslaughter.
In closing arguments Monday, Guyger’s defense argued that the state had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that her actions weren’t self-defense.
“You don’t, as the jurors in this case, decide this case on emotion and sympathy,” defense attorney Toby Shook said, addressing the jury. “Who would not have sympathy for Botham Jean? Wonderful human being … but that is not part of your consideration as a juror.”
The prosecution argued that Guyger could not claim self-defense if she was the intruder in the wrong apartment, and that she missed key cues along her path from her car to Jean’s apartment that should have made her aware she was in the wrong place. The defense also used explicit text message conversations between her and another police officer as evidence and argued Guyger was not tired after a lengthy shift, but distracted.