Grand jury continues hearing case against former Dallas officer Amber Guyger
The Dallas County grand jury will continue reviewing evidence and hearing testimony in the shooting death of Botham Jean by off-duty Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger.
Guyger was arrested by Texas Rangers and charged with manslaughter three days after the shooting. She has maintained she killed Jean in a horrible accident thinking he was in her apartment when she was actually at his door.
A week after the shooting, Police Chief Renee Hall fired Guyger.
It is a case that has garnered international attention with Botham Jean being a native of the island nation of Saint Lucia.
Defense Attorney Russell Wilson is not involved in the case. He’s investigated police shootings while he was an assistant district attorney and created the civil rights unit in the DA's office. He says the grand jury will want to know if Guyger was somehow distracted as she entered what she thought was her apartment.
“What’s the mental mind state of the officer at that time? What does the evidence show?” he said.
The grand jury will also likely consider the initial findings of the Dallas Police Special Investigative Unit, the investigation results from the Texas Rangers who arrested Guyger on manslaughter charges three days later, bullet trajectories to determine where Jean was in relation to Guyger, her 911 call seconds after the shooting, and possibly what she said to the first Dallas police officers who arrived on scene.
Attorney George Milner has both defended and brought cases against police and says grand jurors will likely compare and contrast the doors and entryways of the two apartments.
“Does her door look identical to his? Does her floor look identical to his?” he said. “I mean if her floor has got green carpet and his got red, she’s got problems.”
On Monday, Botham Jean's mother entered the witness room. Milner calls that unusual.
“They're presenting essentially this entire case. They literally called Botham Jean’s mother to testify,” Milner said. “She has no knowledge of any relevant fact as to whether a murder was committed. Someone like that would be a witness at trial but not in front of a grand jury.”
“This is a very striking case at a difficult time in our society,” Wilson said.
The grand jury meets Monday Wednesday and Friday. They could wrap up as soon as Wednesday or it could go on until the end of the week.