Court rejects appeal by Amber Guyger, former cop convicted of murdering Botham Jean
A Texas court of appeals has denied former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger’s second appeal to have a murder conviction against her overturned.
Guyger shot and killed Botham Jean, a 26-year-old Black man who lived in the same apartment complex as Guyger, when she returned home from a 14-hour shift with the Dallas Police Department in September. Guyger said she mistakenly went to Jean’s apartment and thought she was walking into her home when she saw Jean inside and shot him.
Guyger was fired from the Dallas Police Department following the shooting, and in October 2019 a Dallas County jury convicted Guyger of murder and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. The Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas denied an appeal by Guyger.
Guyger’s attorneys claimed in the appeal that there was not sufficient evidence to convict her of murder. They argued Guyger was not in a fit mental state at the time of the shooting to be held responsible and believed she was defending her life.
The appeals court said in a ruling that the evidence does support a murder conviction.
This is not the first appeal filed by Guyger and her attorneys. Another appeal stating Guyger was acting in what a reasonable person would believe to be self-defense was denied in August 2020.
Guyger’s attorneys argued in both attempts to have the verdict overturned that what the fired police officer did was akin to self-defense. Although Jean did not present an actual threat to Guyger, because she mistakenly perceived his presence as a threat, her attorneys argued she was justified in using deadly force to protect herself against that perceived threat, according to Guyger’s appellate brief.
Attorneys for the fired police officer also said in the latest appeal that Guyger’s “mistake of fact,” or incorrect belief or understanding of a situation that led to the outcome, of entering the wrong apartment, which had an identical floor plan, her fatigue, the fact that she was talking on the phone and the fact that the door opened when she put her key fob into the lock gave her reason to believe she had to defend herself.
The door did open, but because the door was already slightly ajar and not because Guyger’s key unlocked it.
The appeals court said in its ruling that her appeal on the basis of self-defense due to mistake of fact was insufficient “because no evidence negated Guyger’s intent to kill Jean when she shot him.” The court also said that mistake of fact does not support Guyger’s claims that a reasonable person would feel they were in immediate danger.
Guyger will be eligible for parole in 2024.
This story contains details from the Star-Telegram archives.
This story was originally published November 18, 2021 at 5:41 PM.