Jury in Guyger murder trial hears testimony from one witness and will return Monday
After jurors heard less than five minutes of testimony in the Amber Guyger murder trial on Saturday, the judge recessed court until Monday morning and sent everyone away except for the attorneys.
Most of the time in court on Saturday, the sixth day of the trial, was consumed by interviewing a potential witness, use of force expert Craig Miller.
Guyger, a 31-year-old former Dallas police officer, is on trial for murder in the death of Botham Jean, a neighbor who Guyger shot to death on Sept. 6, 2018. Guyger has consistently said that she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own and thought he was an intruder.
Guyger, who was in uniform but off duty at the time of the shooting, was fired from the Dallas police force.
Jean, 26, was a native of the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean.
Prosecutors and witnesses have described Jean as a young Christian man with a bright future working as an accountant at PwC, or Price, Waterhouse, Coopers, a financial consultancy company with worldwide interests.
If Guyger is convicted of murder, she faces a sentence of five to 99 years in prison.
State District Judge Tammy Kemp limited the testimony of Miller, who did not take the stand on Saturday, and also limited the testimony of Texas Department of Safety trooper David Armstrong, the lead investigator who first testified when prosecutors presented their case earlier this week.
Kemp set aside seven hours for the Saturday session, but the jury was sent home after less than three hours.
Armstrong, recalled to the stand by the defense, was the only witness who testified Saturday who was heard by the jury. Armstrong said that people in high-stress situations might experience a rapid heart rate, tunnel vision, short-term memory loss and hearing loss.
A person’s short-term memory may return after time, Armstrong said. Armstrong had testified earlier during the trial to the state of mind of people under stress.
During questioning outside the presence of the jury earlier in the trial, Armstrong said it was his opinion that Guyger’s decision to shoot Jean was reasonable. Armstrong also said it was reasonable for Guyger to perceive Jean as a threat and an intruder and that he does not believe Guyger was reckless in her behavior.
Miller, the use of force expert and former police officer and administrator who did not testify for the jury on Saturday, also told the court that he believed Guyger’s decision to shoot Jean was reasonable given the circumstances.
Miller made his comments before the court and not before the jury. In disallowing his testimony to the reasonableness or the unreasonableness of Guyger’s actions, Kemp said that determination was an evaluation that should be left to the triers of fact, also known as the jury.
If there is a guilty verdict in this phase of the trial, the guilt-innocence phase, the trial will proceed into the punishment phase, when a decision about sentencing will take place.
