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Trial Opens for Former Officer Who Killed Unarmed Black Man in His Apartment Trial Opens for Former Officer Who Killed Unarmed Black Man in His Apartment
(about 2 hours later)
DALLAS — Botham Shem Jean posed no threat to the off-duty police officer who shot and killed him as he was watching television in his Dallas apartment last year, and in the final startled moments of his life, he had no chance to tell the officer she had entered the wrong apartment, a prosecutor told jurors on Monday, the opening day of the officer’s murder trial.DALLAS — Botham Shem Jean posed no threat to the off-duty police officer who shot and killed him as he was watching television in his Dallas apartment last year, and in the final startled moments of his life, he had no chance to tell the officer she had entered the wrong apartment, a prosecutor told jurors on Monday, the opening day of the officer’s murder trial.
The former officer, Amber R. Guyger, 31, was returning home from her patrol shift in September 2018 when she entered what she said she believed was her own apartment. While standing at an apartment exactly one floor above her own, she fired her weapon twice at Mr. Jean, her 26-year-old neighbor, striking him once in the torso and killing him.The former officer, Amber R. Guyger, 31, was returning home from her patrol shift in September 2018 when she entered what she said she believed was her own apartment. While standing at an apartment exactly one floor above her own, she fired her weapon twice at Mr. Jean, her 26-year-old neighbor, striking him once in the torso and killing him.
The shooting, yet another case of a white police officer killing an unarmed black man, has angered, puzzled and captivated the city for months. Lawyers laid out the framework of the case in opening statements on Monday, but they shed little light on the unanswered questions that continue to swirl around the case.The shooting, yet another case of a white police officer killing an unarmed black man, has angered, puzzled and captivated the city for months. Lawyers laid out the framework of the case in opening statements on Monday, but they shed little light on the unanswered questions that continue to swirl around the case.
Ms. Guyger told the police she was under the mistaken impression that she was standing in her own doorway and thought Mr. Jean was an intruder who was actively threatening her when she opened fire.Ms. Guyger told the police she was under the mistaken impression that she was standing in her own doorway and thought Mr. Jean was an intruder who was actively threatening her when she opened fire.
But in his opening statement in a downtown Dallas courtroom on Monday, Jason Hermus, a prosecutor with the Dallas County district attorney’s office, told the jury that Ms. Guyger had made a series of fatal errors, violated police protocols and shot Mr. Jean when he had made no move to advance toward her.But in his opening statement in a downtown Dallas courtroom on Monday, Jason Hermus, a prosecutor with the Dallas County district attorney’s office, told the jury that Ms. Guyger had made a series of fatal errors, violated police protocols and shot Mr. Jean when he had made no move to advance toward her.
“He was sitting in his living room, in shorts and a T-shirt, watching TV and eating a bowl of vanilla ice cream, what any one of us would have been doing,” Mr. Hermus told the jury, referring to Mr. Jean by his nickname of Bo.“He was sitting in his living room, in shorts and a T-shirt, watching TV and eating a bowl of vanilla ice cream, what any one of us would have been doing,” Mr. Hermus told the jury, referring to Mr. Jean by his nickname of Bo.
“When all of sudden, Amber Guyger comes through his front door uninvited. The light from the hallway must have flooded his apartment, the noise from the door must have scared him to death,” he said. “As Bo was trying to get up off the couch to find out what this intruder is doing coming into his home, she is leveling off her gun having acquired her target. And she shoots at him twice. No opportunity for de-escalation. No opportunity for him to surrender.”“When all of sudden, Amber Guyger comes through his front door uninvited. The light from the hallway must have flooded his apartment, the noise from the door must have scared him to death,” he said. “As Bo was trying to get up off the couch to find out what this intruder is doing coming into his home, she is leveling off her gun having acquired her target. And she shoots at him twice. No opportunity for de-escalation. No opportunity for him to surrender.”
Mr. Hermus said the path of the bullet — down through his heart to a point between his stomach and his back — showed that Mr. Jean was either getting up from a seated position or was “in a cowering position” hiding behind a three-foot wall. It is likely he took a few steps after being shot, the prosecutor said.Mr. Hermus said the path of the bullet — down through his heart to a point between his stomach and his back — showed that Mr. Jean was either getting up from a seated position or was “in a cowering position” hiding behind a three-foot wall. It is likely he took a few steps after being shot, the prosecutor said.
Under police protocol, he said, officers confronted with such a perceived threat are supposed to stay outside the residence and wait for backup. Ms. Guyger’s decision to fire her weapon from the door, he said, was one of several “unreasonable choices” she had made that night, preceded by her failure to notice she had parked on the wrong floor.Under police protocol, he said, officers confronted with such a perceived threat are supposed to stay outside the residence and wait for backup. Ms. Guyger’s decision to fire her weapon from the door, he said, was one of several “unreasonable choices” she had made that night, preceded by her failure to notice she had parked on the wrong floor.
She should have realized her mistake, he said, when she saw the large, bright-red doormat Mr. Jean had outside his apartment door — a clear distinction from Ms. Guyger’s apartment, which had no doormat. For emphasis, Mr. Hermus pulled the doormat out of an evidence bag and showed it to the jury. Mr. Jean lived in Unit 1478 on the fourth floor of the South Side Flats complex. Ms. Guyger lived directly below him in Unit 1378 on the third floor.
But one of Ms. Guyger’s lawyers, Robert L. Rogers, gave a much different account. Mr. Jean was not seated or cowering when he was shot, he said, but was coming toward Ms. Guyger; he was about 13 feet away from her when she opened fire, he said. The officer, in fear for her life, shouted “Hands!” he said, while Mr. Jean was saying, “Hey! Hey!” She should have realized her mistake, Mr. Hermus said, when she saw the large, bright-red doormat Mr. Jean had outside his apartment door — a clear distinction from Ms. Guyger’s apartment, which had no doormat. For emphasis, Mr. Hermus pulled the doormat out of an evidence bag and showed it to the jury.
During her 911 call to report the shooting, Ms. Guyger told the dispatcher, “I shot a guy thinking it was my apartment,” the prosecutor said, calling it noteworthy that she had failed to mention that there was any threat, or that she feared for her life.
“For Amber Guyger, the mere presence of someone in her apartment that she thinks is hers means he has to die,” Mr. Hermus said.
One of Ms. Guyger’s lawyers, Robert L. Rogers, gave a much different account of the encounter. Mr. Jean was not seated or cowering when he was shot, he said, but was coming toward Ms. Guyger; he was about 13 feet away from her when she opened fire, he said. The officer, in fear for her life, shouted “Hands!” he said, while Mr. Jean was saying, “Hey! Hey!”
“There is zero physical evidence of this preposterous scene where Mr. Jean is getting up, and gets shot in the heart and somehow walks to the middle of the apartment, towards the person that shot him and then collapses backwards,” Mr. Rogers said. He added, “You’ll see that it is impossible for him to have been sitting where they say he was.”“There is zero physical evidence of this preposterous scene where Mr. Jean is getting up, and gets shot in the heart and somehow walks to the middle of the apartment, towards the person that shot him and then collapses backwards,” Mr. Rogers said. He added, “You’ll see that it is impossible for him to have been sitting where they say he was.”
If there was one element of the case that the prosecutors and the defense agreed on, it was that Mr. Jean’s door was closed that night but not locked. Mr. Rogers said it was defective and slightly ajar, and at times would shut but not latch, which was what had allowed Ms. Guyger to enter an apartment that was not hers.
Mr. Rogers said Ms. Guyger had worked 40 hours over the previous four days, including a 13.5-hour shift on the day of the shooting. He said she was tired and had not noticed that she parked on the wrong floor and was standing on a doormat that was not hers. Mr. Rogers said the hallways and parking garage in the complex looked the same, and it was reasonable for her to have mistakenly entered the wrong apartment. There had been 46 cases, he said, in which tenants in the complex had mistakenly placed their keys in the wrong doors.Mr. Rogers said Ms. Guyger had worked 40 hours over the previous four days, including a 13.5-hour shift on the day of the shooting. He said she was tired and had not noticed that she parked on the wrong floor and was standing on a doormat that was not hers. Mr. Rogers said the hallways and parking garage in the complex looked the same, and it was reasonable for her to have mistakenly entered the wrong apartment. There had been 46 cases, he said, in which tenants in the complex had mistakenly placed their keys in the wrong doors.
“How is that unreasonable?” Mr. Rogers asked the jury. “How is that selfish and evil on Amber Guyger’s part?”“How is that unreasonable?” Mr. Rogers asked the jury. “How is that selfish and evil on Amber Guyger’s part?”
Prosecutors appeared to be making a case that Ms. Guyger was distracted. Mr. Hermus spent considerable time talking about a series of sexually suggestive text messages she had exchanged that evening with a fellow officer, Martin Rivera, with whom the lawyer said she was having a relationship.
She was still having a 16-minute phone conversation with Officer Rivera when she arrived at the apartment complex’s parking garage, Mr. Hermus said, pulling over temporarily in the garage at one point. It was after that conversation that she parked on the wrong floor, he said.
While Ms. Guyger had followed her normal pattern of stowing her body-worn camera and filling out her overtime slip before getting in her pickup truck to leave work, he said, “After this conversation with Martin Rivera, there is a marked difference.”
Mr. Rogers told the jury that Ms. Guyger had indeed had a relationship with Officer Rivera, but said it had nothing to do with what happened that night.
The start of the trial took place amid heavy security and large crowds at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in downtown Dallas. The seventh-floor courtroom reached capacity on Monday morning, leaving a crowd of spectators, reporters and civil rights activists in the hallway.The start of the trial took place amid heavy security and large crowds at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in downtown Dallas. The seventh-floor courtroom reached capacity on Monday morning, leaving a crowd of spectators, reporters and civil rights activists in the hallway.
Ms. Guyger, who Mr. Rogers suggested would testify during the trial, appeared to cry during the prosecution’s opening statement as several of Mr. Jean’s relatives looked on in the courtroom. Mr. Jean was from the island nation of St. Lucia in the Caribbean, and many of his relatives wore St. Lucia lapel pins.
Seven of the 12 jurors and four alternates are African-American, four are white and five are of other races and ethnicities.Seven of the 12 jurors and four alternates are African-American, four are white and five are of other races and ethnicities.
The jury, if it decides to convict, could find the officer guilty of murder or of a lesser charge such as manslaughter. The question for the jury is not whether Ms. Guyger shot Mr. Jean — that is not in dispute — but whether the jury believes it was a case of mistaken identity, as Ms. Guyger claims, and that she thought she was acting in self-defense.The jury, if it decides to convict, could find the officer guilty of murder or of a lesser charge such as manslaughter. The question for the jury is not whether Ms. Guyger shot Mr. Jean — that is not in dispute — but whether the jury believes it was a case of mistaken identity, as Ms. Guyger claims, and that she thought she was acting in self-defense.
Ms. Guyger, who worked for the Dallas Police Department for about five years, had been involved in a previous shooting. In that case, she shot a man in the stomach after he grabbed her Taser weapon during a confrontation. The man survived, and a grand jury later declined to indict her. Ms. Guyger, who worked for the Dallas Police Department for more than four years, had been involved in a previous shooting. In that case, she shot a man in the stomach after he grabbed her Taser weapon during a confrontation. The man survived, and a grand jury later declined to indict her.
She was initially put on administrative leave after the most recent shooting, and later was fired and charged with manslaughter. Mr. Jean’s supporters held a series of demonstrations, including disrupting a Dallas City Council meeting, calling for a more serious charge. Months later, a Dallas County grand jury returned the current murder indictment.She was initially put on administrative leave after the most recent shooting, and later was fired and charged with manslaughter. Mr. Jean’s supporters held a series of demonstrations, including disrupting a Dallas City Council meeting, calling for a more serious charge. Months later, a Dallas County grand jury returned the current murder indictment.
Marina Trahan Martinez reported from Dallas, and Manny Fernandez from Houston.Marina Trahan Martinez reported from Dallas, and Manny Fernandez from Houston.