Attorneys put Atatiana Jefferson’s family through ‘tedious process’ in hearing, lawyer says
The attorney for Atatiana Jefferson’s family said attorneys for Aaron Dean, the former Fort Worth police officer who killed Jefferson in her home in 2019, will not be able to prove their argument that the murder trial should be moved out of Tarrant County.
On Tuesday, Dean’s lawyers continued to show hours of media clips about the shooting during a hearing. Dean’s defense counsel asked the judge in November for the upcoming trial to be moved out of Tarrant County, arguing in court motions that a fair trial the county is not possible due to extensive media coverage. On Monday and Tuesday, attorneys appeared to lay the groundwork for this argument by showing hours worth of TV and other news clips about the shooting, although attorneys Bob Gill and Miles Brissette have not made any oral arguments in court about the motion.
Dean, who is charged with murder, has been scheduled to go on trial before a jury on May 16.
Lee Merritt, the attorney representing Jefferson’s family in a civil suit, was in the 297th District courtroom on Tuesday. He sat with Jefferson’s family in the front two rows as attorneys showed the footage. Over and over, the courtroom watched clips of former Mayor Betsy Price talking about the shooting, protesters shouting Jefferson’s name downtown and Dean shooting Jefferson on police body-cam footage.
“As you can imagine, this is an extremely exhaustive process for the family of Atatiana,” Merritt said. “They are anxiously awaiting their day in court.”
Before the court broke for lunch at noon, Merritt was sworn in as a witness in the case. Merritt is one of hundreds of people listed as potential witnesses to be called before the court, but it was unclear why he was being sworn in when he is not expected to be called to testify during pre-trial hearings. Merritt said he believes the move was so Dean’s attorneys could request Merritt be sequestered from the family during the hearing and trial.
“I honestly think it’s just animus,” Merritt said. “They want to take whatever angle that gives them the best advantage. Obviously having an attorney present with the family to give the family guidance puts them at ease and helps them prepare for the civil trial as well. And they don’t want to do that.”
Jefferson’s family has filed a civil suit against the city of Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Police Department over Jefferson’s death.
In regards to the motion to change venue, Merritt said he has never seen a judge grant a request to move a trial. Dean’s attorneys must prove a “specific set of circumstances” to prove that a fair trial in Tarrant County is not possible, he said. Extensive media coverage alone is not enough — they must prove the public has been ingrained with enough misinformation about a case that “you can’t unring that bell,” he said.
Merritt pointed out that other highly publicized cases, including the trial of former officer Amber Guyger in Dallas, had change of venue requests denied.
Monday’s entire proceedings from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. consisted of the attorneys showing video footage. As of 5 p.m., Tuesday’s proceedings were the same. The hearing is expected to continue Wednesday with more videos.
“So having to go through all the videos and showing the case has been talked about doesn’t established what they need to establish, which is that there is tons of misinformation out there, so much so that they cannot get a fair trial,” Merritt said. “Instead, it puts the family through another tedious process before they get to the heart of why we are here,” he said, “Which is accountability for the murder of Atatiana.”
On Tuesday morning, Merritt said, he dropped Jefferson’s nephew, who was in the room when she was shot, off at elementary school.
“He and his little brother... are more aware of what’s going on in this case than any elementary student should be,” he said. “They are anxious. They want to know that their country will protect them and their loved ones when something like this happens.”
Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, was killed inside her own home in south Fort Worth in October 2019. Dean, who was responding to a neighbor’s call about open doors at the home, shot her through a window at the back of the house.
James Smith, the neighbor who called the non-emergency line that night to ask for a wellness check at Jefferson’s home, waited outside the courthouse Monday and Tuesday. He stood beside a glossy banner emblazoned with Jefferson’s photo and name.
As of Tuesday, the judge had not ruled on the motion for a change of venue. It’s unclear whether moving the trial to another county would cause delays.
Continued delays
After the motion to delay the trial to the current May date was granted in December, Jefferson’s family and others in the community said the continued wait for justice is disrespectful.
Gill and Brissette filed another motion Monday morning asking the court to delay the trial again because Dean’s lead attorney, Jim Lane, is seriously ill. It’s unclear when the judge may rule on that motion.
In January, Judge David Hagerman tentatively re-scheduled Dean’s murder trial for May 16, with jury selection to begin May 9. At the time, Hagerman said there would be no more delays.
The defense’s new motion for a continuance argues the trial again must be delayed due to Lane’s “serious health issues” because he is not able to participate in trial preparation or court proceedings.
The motion also says state prosecutors filed “significant new discovery materials” in the last few days, and Dean’s defense does not have enough time to review the new information before the trial.
The motion does not give a clear timeline for when the defense would be prepared to go forward with the trial.
“It is unknown at this time when Mr. Lane will be able to return to his practice,” the motion says.
Jefferson was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew when she thought she heard a prowler in the back yard, grabbed a handgun from her purse, and pointed it toward the window, the nephew told a forensic interviewer, according to an arrest warrant affidavit supporting Dean’s arrest. Dean, who is white, did not identify himself as a police officer and shot Jefferson within seconds, according to body-camera video.
Dean, 37, resigned from the police department the same day he was arrested, which was two days after the shooting. The department said he would have been fired if he had not resigned.
This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 3:58 PM.
