Attorneys for fired Dallas officer Amber Guyger came to her defense after the Dallas County grand jury delivered an indictment on a murder charge in connection with Botham Jean's death.
Attorneys for Guyger said they believe that Guyger should have been cleared by the grand jury because it was an accident – namely, she wrongly believed she was in her apartment and shot what she thought that was an intruder. They say they believe that she will ultimately be acquitted.
“It’s not murder,” said Robert Rogers, one of her defense attorneys. “It’s a tragic mistake. You don’t prosecute people that one make a mistake that don’t have criminal intent, and two their actions are justified by the laws that are in place.”
Guyger’s defense team also says it's unfair to compare what happened in her case to the other controversial police shootings that have occurred across the nation. “This is not a confrontation of an officer on duty,” said Toby Shook, her other defense attorney. “This is a citizen, who happens to be a police officer who made a mistake, a mistake that many people would make in the same circumstances and there was not criminal intent to intentionally murder anyone.”
They also accused outgoing Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson of injecting politics and emotion into the grand jury process, namely by allowing Botham Jean’s mother and sister to testify before the grand jury.
“I don’t see that happening on any other case down there,” Rogers said. “I don’t see that happening on aggravated robbery cases, or the other murder cases, or the other aggravated assault cases. It’s highly unusual.”
He said he believed the intent was “to inject emotion into it.”
The attorneys said it is a “distinct possibility” that they will seek a change of venue given all the publicity surrounding the case.
“She’s holding up the best she can,” Rogers said. She's struggling because of the terrible tragedy that occurred, but she also knows deep in our heart that this was a mistake and that we’re going to defend her and that we’re going to do everything we can to get her a fair trial in front in a fair forum in front of 12 jurors and that in a fair trial she will be acquitted.”
