Article By Teresa Mayfield // EEW Magazine // Headline News

A Texas jury flat out rejected former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger’s absurd and bogus self-defense claims in the fatal 2018 shooting of an innocent man eating ice cream in his own home.

The 12-member jury, which deliberated for less than two days, convicted the 31-year-old of murder for shooting Botham Jean dead after she said she mistook his apartment for her own.

Guyger appeared emotionless, simply standing and staring as the jury foreperson read the guilty decision. Botham Jean’s family members burst into tears upon hearing that she would pay for killing the 26-year-old well-loved Christian man on Sept. 6, 2018.

Guyger, who was fired from the Dallas Police Department days after the controversial killing, could face a prison sentence of five to 99 years.

The trial lasted a little more than a week, and the jury was sequestered the entire time.

The Dallas County jury began deliberating Monday afternoon after prosecutors argued that Guyger had made a series of "unreasonable decisions" that ended an innocent man’s life. Defense attorneys, however, counter-argued that she made "reasonable" errors that justified her use of lethal force because she believed her life was in jeopardy.

Before making a final decision, the jury asked for further clarification regarding the definition of manslaughter and what is known as the “Castle Doctrine”—a legal protection for a homeowner who uses deadly force inside their home against an intruder.

Even though the then officer was in the wrong apartment belonging to the victim, Guyger's defense team oddly tried to use the Castle Doctrine, which is similar to Florida's "Stand your Ground" law. In an effort to apply this defense, Guyger’s team said, in her mind she was in her own unit, which was situated one floor below where Jean lived.

The prosecution countered that the Castle Doctrine did not apply in the case.

Dallas County District Court Judge Tammy Kemp gave the jury a series of instructions and offered the option of manslaughter as opposed to murder for mistakenly entering Jean’s residence and viewing him as a threat to her.

In his closing argument Monday, Jason Fine, Dallas County Assistant District Attorney, asked jurors to reject Guyger's "crazy" claim that she acted in self-defense because she perceived Jean, who was in his own home eating a bowl of ice cream, as a threatening intruder.

Fine read an excerpt from Guyger's testimony last week where she said, "I never want anybody to have to go through or even imagine going through what I felt that night."

"Are you kidding me? That is garbage," Fine said, crumpling up the paper and tossing it in the trash can. "Most of what she said was garbage. Ninety-nine percent of this trial has been about the defendant."

Fine then challenged the jury to put themselves in both Jean and Guyger’s shoes when they deliberated.

"He's eating ice cream on his couch. So, if you're sitting and eating ice cream, you get shot in the heart? Is that what we're saying?" Fine asked.

Fine also pointed at Guyger and said, "This has to do with that defendant making unreasonable decisions that put her in that seat and Bo in the ground.”

Guyger, who served on the police force for four years, testified in her own defense. She said she was tired after a long day of work and parked on the wrong floor. She reenacted how she arrived at the apartment door with her backpack, lunchbox, and police vest in her left hand, and said she heard what sounded like someone walking inside.

When Guyger put her key into Jean’s lock that evening, she said she noticed the door was "cracked open" and putting the key in the lock forced the door to the darkened apartment open. Guyger explained that she previously had issues getting her apartment door to lock completely.

Once inside, she said she saw a shadowy figure, so she pulled out her gun and “yelled at him."

Guyger said she could not see Jean’s hands and he was "yelling, 'Hey! Hey! Hey!' in an aggressive voice."

Guyger said Jean was moving toward her when she fired, and she shot him because she was “scared” he was going to kill her.

Prosecutors said Jean, an accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), an international auditing firm, was sitting on his couch when Guyger opened his front door and fired without giving him any opportunity to surrender.