Judge tentatively sets August trial for former Fort Worth officer charged with murder
A state district judge on Tuesday set a tentative window for the trial for a former Fort Worth police officer indicted on a murder charge in the death of a woman he shot as he and another officer handled an open structure call.
Judge David Hagerman said during a pretrial proceeding that although scheduling in the case will be fluid and may change, the trial for Aaron Dean will likely be held in August. The judge did not select a date for voir dire, when about 200 potential jurors will be culled to a smaller panel that will consider evidence in the case.
The novel coronavirus and connected social distancing measures have for months delayed legal affairs and spurred logistics complications for jury trials in courthouses across the state, including in 297th District Court, where Dean’s case is being handled. Potential jurors may spill beyond a single room on the fifth floor of the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in downtown Fort Worth.
The case “needs to be tried next year,” Hagerman said.
The judge said he would likely consider a motion for a change of venue, which would seek a transfer of the trial outside Tarrant County, in July. Dean’s attorneys, Jim Lane and Miles Brissette, have not filed a venue motion, but Hagerman said that he anticipated it.
Hagerman has issued a gag order directing the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office and Dean’s attorneys not to furnish information on the case outside of court.
Also during the pretrial proceeding on Tuesday, Hagerman discussed with prosecutors Dale Smith and Tiffany Burks file folders intended to hold evidence that Dean’s attorneys said were empty when the district attorney’s office handed them over. Hagerman said both sides should work to resolve discovery differences, including the file folder matter.
Dean, who, like all of the hearing’s participants, listened via a Zoom video conference, is accused in the Oct. 12, 2019, death of Atatiana Jefferson in Fort Worth.
Jefferson died as she was babysitting her 8-year-old nephew at her mother’s house in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue.
A neighbor had called the police because he was worried after seeing the home’s doors open.
Jefferson, who was 28 and Black, heard noise outside and thought a prowler was in the yard. She grabbed and held her gun and looked through a bedroom window as Dean fired once from outside, killing her, according to an account from the nephew that is described in an affidavit supporting an arrest warrant for the officer. Dean is 35 and white.
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 3:49 PM.
