FORT WORTH, Texas — The judge in the trial for Aaron Dean - the former Fort Worth police officer charged in the 2019 shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson - ruled Wednesday to grant the defense's request to delay the trial.
Judge David Hagerman made his ruling after three days of court proceedings.
With the ruling, the new tentative date for the trial - which had already been re-scheduled multiple times - is May 16, 2022. The jury is slated to report the week before on May 9.
The trial for Dean was set to begin on Jan. 10, 2022, with jury selection scheduled for the week before. But in a Dec. 7 court filing, attorneys for Dean said that two "essential witnesses" not only have previously scheduled commitments during the timeframe for the trial, but would also be unavailable in December to prepare for the trial.
After the defense made their case to Hagerman privately in chambers, the judge told the court that due to the “unique nature” of the testimony that the defense’s two experts would provide; the fact that those two experts have scheduling conflicts; and the defense would not be able to find new experts in a reasonable amount of time, he granted the continuance motion.
Additionally, the judge announced that one of Dean's defense attorneys has been assigned to a death penalty case in early January, which he said played a factor in why the trial will be moved all the way to May.
While the ruling is a minor win for the defense, the judge did say no further requests for delays would be granted.
Dean's attorneys earlier this month had filed a flurry of pre-trial motions in the case, including the requests to delay the trial and a venue change. It was yet another step in the long road to trial for the former officer.
After delays because of the pandemic, the trial had initially been scheduled to start this year in mid-November. It was postponed until after Nov. 29. A judge later scheduled it for the January date.
Then, on Dec. 1, Dean's attorneys asked for a change of venue because they felt he could not get a fair trial. Dean's attorneys argued that in Tarrant County there is "so great a prejudice against Mr. Dean that he cannot receive a fair and impartial trial in Tarrant County."
However, in another Dec. 7 court filing, the state objected to those calls for the trial to be moved, presenting sworn affidavits from former prosecutors and community leaders who said they did not feel that coverage of the case "has been inflammatory or prejudicial."
A judge has not yet ruled on the change of venue request. It's unclear when a decision on that motion would be decided.
Dean is charged with murder in Jefferson's Oct. 12, 2019 death.
On that night, a neighbor had called police requesting a welfare check after he saw the door open at Jefferson's Fort Worth home.
Jefferson, 28, was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew when Dean walked into the backyard. She grabbed her gun and had gotten up to look out the window when she was shot, police records show. Jefferson died at the scene.
An arrest warrant stated three times that Dean did not announce that he was a police officer when he walked around the house.
Dean did not give any statement to Fort Worth investigators on why he shot, officials said. In such investigations, it's common for a police officer to give a statement to investigators and to the internal affairs division of their police department.
Dean resigned before he could be fired, Fort Worth Police Department officials said.