Recap: Jury stops deliberations on Aaron Dean sentence, will resume Tuesday
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Murder Trial of Aaron Dean
The case against Aaron Dean in the shooting of Atatiana Jefferson finally began to unfold Nov. 28, 2022, with jury selection. Dean was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison Dec. 20 after he was convicted of manslaughter. Read the trial coverage here.
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The jury has stopped deliberating Monday after more than seven hours of trying to decide whether former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean will serve time in prison or on probation for manslaughter in the shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys made their closing arguments in the punishment phase of the trial Monday morning before turning the decision over to the jury just before 10 a.m. The jury had been deliberating for more than seven hours when they stopped about 5:30 p.m. Jurors will be sequestered overnight and return to court Tuesday morning.
Around 2 p.m. the jury asked to review Dean’s body-camera video and the Fort Worth Police Department’s general orders again. Jurors apparently haven’t sent any other notes to ask questions during their deliberations Monday.
Rewatch video from today’s proceedings here:
Dean’s sentence could range from two to 20 years.
Defense attorneys urged the jury to consider probation, which jurors could choose to recommend if they decide to sentence Dean to 10 years or less. Prosecutors are asking for the maximum possible sentence of 20 years. By law, the court will have to follow the jury’s recommendation. If given prison time, Dean would have to serve at least half the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Dean shot and killed Jefferson, 28, on Oct. 12, 2019, through a window at the back of her home while responding to a concerned neighbor’s call about open doors at the house on East Allen Avenue.
Dean’s attorneys argued that he thought a burglary might be in progress and that he saw Jefferson point a gun at him through the window and shot her in self-defense. Prosecutors argued that Dean never said he saw a gun, didn’t identify himself as an officer, didn’t give Jefferson time to respond to his command to put her hands up, and didn’t attempt CPR.
‘Her life is worth so much more’
In closing arguments Monday, Assistant District Attorneys Ashlea Deener and Dale Smith asked the jury to consider what Jefferson’s life was worth.
“Atatiana’s family — they received their life sentence on Oct. 12, 2019,” Deener said. “They received their life sentence without her. They’ll never get her back.”
Deener emphasized that Jefferson’s siblings — Adarius, Ashley and Amber Carr — and her nephew Zion, who witnessed her death when he was 8 years old, will miss her for the rest of their lives.
“In this case, that’s worth something,” Deener said. “Her life is worth so much more than a probation sentence.”
Deener and Smith also reminded the jury of the testimony of psychologist Dr. Kyle Clayton, who evaluated Dean before he was hired by the Fort Worth Police Department in 2017. Clayton determined Dean was not suitable to serve as a police officer and that he had a narcissistic, controlling personality. On appeal, a panel of three other psychologists found that Dean was fit to serve.
Dean’s arrogance was “a roadmap to how when ended up here,” Deener said.
During his testimony last week, when asked by Smith to grade his performance in responding to the call at Jefferson’s home, Dean gave himself a B.
“A 28-year-old woman is dead and he thinks he did a fine job,” Deener said. “This is not somebody who thinks he has done anything wrong.”
Justice would only be served with the maximum sentence of 20 years, she said.
‘A second of his life’
Defense attorney Bob Gill asked the jury not to be swayed by emotion and said the case is not about weighing whether Jefferson’s family or Dean’s family is worth more.
He called Jefferson’s death a tragedy, but said “your verdict won’t change that.”
Because a Black woman was killed by a white officer, people have made the case into “a racial issue,” but “it’s not,” Gill said. He said Dean didn’t know who was on the other side of the window, only that the person was armed and “a threat.”
Gill said with their verdict finding Dean guilty of manslaughter instead of murder, the jurors recognized that Dean acted recklessly and not intentionally in taking Jefferson’s life. Dean had a split second to decide whether to shoot, the defense attorney said.
“Aaron Dean literally is being judged for a second of his life today,” Gill said.
Gill emphasized that Dean was working in the line of duty as a police officer and testified that he was protecting himself and his partner. He called Dean a “God-fearing” “law-abiding” citizen.
“He’s probably the person least in need of rehabilitation that’s ever sat in a defendant’s chair,” the defense attorney said.
Dean, 38, was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on Thursday after the guilty verdict was read.
“There is nothing to gain by sending this man to the penitentiary,” Gill said. “No one can punish him more than he’s already punished himself.”
Gill said the psychologist’s opinion was subjective and the people who know Dean best, his family, testified to his good character.
Gill advised the jurors to be careful with the message their verdict sends to other police officers and their families who “need to know that when they leave for work in the morning, that they can follow their training” and “defend themselves.”
‘He’s here because of who he is’
In the final arguments to the jury, Smith said that if he were put on community supervision, Dean likely would only have to meet with his probation officer for about 15 minutes a month — about three hours per year.
“Probation’s not appropriate and you know it,” Smith said.
Smith urged the jury to watch Dean’s body-camera video again and take note of every wrong decision he made that led to him killing Jefferson.
“Every step he made toward that back yard is because of who he is,” Smith said.
Smith showed jurors photos of Jefferson and her family, saying she wanted to be a doctor and contribute to society.
“When she was taking her last breaths on the floor in front of her nephew,” Dean stood over her, providing no aid and looking for her gun “to give himself another excuse,” Smith said.
“She deserved better and she deserves a sentence from you,” Smith said. “... Give him the 20 years.”
Threats, grounds for appeal
Explaining why activist Manuel Mata was arrested in court on Friday, defense attorney Miles Brissette said that law enforcement officers had identified Mata as being involved in a protest against members of Dean’s family as they left the courthouse on Thursday.
Court records do not show that Mata is facing any charges in connection with the incident.
Defense attorneys wanted to swear in Mata as a witness to testify on the record as evidence to support an appeal arguing that the trial should have been moved out of Tarrant County, Brissette said.
Brissette also said in court Monday morning that the defense team has received anonymous messages making death threats.
Judge George Gallagher said on Monday that he was concerned because Mata was sitting near Dean’s family in the courtroom Friday.
Dean’s defense lawyers called for Mata to be sworn in Friday right after Dean’s mother had testified about a group of people she didn’t know yelling at her and her family as they were going to their cars Thursday. She indicated it was a tense, “very bad” situation that concerned her, and that she felt safe only because there were officers nearby.
Star-Telegram video from Thursday showed a group shouting at Dean’s family as they walked to their cars. One man yelled “Y’all hear that? That’s Fort Worth telling y’all how they feel about your (expletive) brother.” Mata appeared to be in the crowd but it is unclear whether he was one of the people yelling.
Mata refused to take an oath to be sworn in as a witness, saying he was confused about why he was being called to testify and asking for his lawyer.
Gallagher revoked Mata’s bond on prior charges and ordered him taken into custody.
Court records show Mata, 42, was arrested in October on charges of interference with public duties, trespassing and resisting arrest. Mata has described himself as a citizen journalist, according to a story by the political news organization The Texan in August. He has regularly recorded interactions between law enforcement and the public. He has also been removed from Fort Worth and Tarrant County government meetings for trying to record proceedings.
Gallagher said Monday that Mata’s bond would be reinstated so that he can be released from jail.
The trial also has led to allegations of contempt of court against Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and City Councilman Chris Nettles, who have been ordered to appear at a hearing on Jan. 4 after they made statements regarding the case following Thursday’s guilty verdict. Anyone who was sworn in as a witness was prohibited from speaking publicly about the case until the sentencing phase was complete, Gallagher has said.
Jefferson’s family still has a lawsuit pending against Dean and the city of Fort Worth in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
This story was originally published December 19, 2022 at 7:40 AM.
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