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Dallas officer kills man after mistaking apartment for her own, police say

'stache

By 'stache
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Constant
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First off I’d like to say that I’m heartbroken for the Jean family. As a parent myself, I hope Mr. Jean’s father and mother find some peace in the outcome. They appear to be a wonderful family that ra

SubliminalHorn
SubliminalHorn

Just relax the throat and stay in rhythm 

4th&Five
4th&Five

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 55,859

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17 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Supposedly, the neighbors reported she tried to open the door, it didn't open, there was some screaming, he opened the door, and the she shot him.

She never "opened the door."

And why is she screaming when her door won't open?  

Is that what normal people do when their electronic key generates nothing but red lights?  You stand there and scream at the door?

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Red Six

Red Six 131

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23 hours ago, 4th and 5 said:

Homicide is murder (intentionally or knowingly) manslaughter (recklessly) or criminally negligent homicide (criminal negligence).

intentional and knowing mean conscious desire to bring about the result, or knew that the result would occur, generally referred to a specific intent. 

Recklessness and criminal negligence are general intents where the actor did not intend to cause the harm. Recklessness is the conscious awareness of a substantial and unjustifiable risk and proceeding anyway. Criminal negligence is different in the failure to perceive the substantial and unjustifiable risk is a substantial deviation from how a reasonable person would act. Like shooting a gun in a crowded area. No intent to kill anyone, but the act is a sufficient mens rea, or culpability, to be a crime.

Her conduct, in shooting him was an intentional act. She shot him with the specific intent to kill. That’s murder under the Texas Penal Code.

She could assert at least two defenses to her conduct. 

One is mistake of fact, if her belief that he was an intruder in her home was reasonable under the circumstances.

The other is self defense, but again, that requires a reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary under the circumstances as she reasonably believed them to be at the time, not in hindsight. I question that she could avail herself of each element of the statute that would get her the presumption and jury instruction for “degree of force used presumed to be reasonable” and “no duty to retreat.”

I don’t see a jury buying the justification of self defense. They might bite on a mistake of fact defense but she could still be convicted of any lesser included offense of murder, to wit: manslaugher or criminally negligent homicide. 

If the roles were reversed -- black man entering the wrong apartment, shooting a white cop sitting around in her underwear -- no doubt he would be held with no bond for capital murder right now.

Capital murder requires intentional or knowing murder during the commission of, e.g., burglary.

Burglary under S 30.02(a)(3) requires entry without the effective consent of the owner and, during entry, commission of a felony.

Brief Googling indicates that CCA says the murder can be the predicate felony for the burglary.

Did she enter without effective consent? He opened the door. He didn't say she could come in. If any part of her entered that habitation, she committed burglary when she shot and killed him.

Did she commit intentional or knowing murder? Murder is a conduct-, not result-based, offense. She intentionally or knowingly pointed that gun at him and shot him. Her conduct directly resulted in his death.

Maybe the delay in seeking the warrant is to ensure they have capital murder locked down.

Right?

Right?

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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So no journalist has tried bribing one of the dim-witted girls in the leasing office in matching polos $1000 to give them the name of the female dallas cop that lives there?  That's impossible.  

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SameSame

SameSame 1,751

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12 minutes ago, Lobo said:

So no journalist has tried bribing one of the dim-witted girls in the leasing office in matching polos $1000 to give them the name of the female dallas cop that lives there?  That's impossible.  

You may want to go to dallasnews.com or just Google.

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4th and 5

4th and 5 5,000

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25 minutes ago, Red Six said:

If the roles were reversed -- black man entering the wrong apartment, shooting a white cop sitting around in her underwear -- no doubt he would be held with no bond for capital murder right now.

Capital murder requires intentional or knowing murder during the commission of, e.g., burglary.

Burglary under S 30.02(a)(3) requires entry without the effective consent of the owner and, during entry, commission of a felony.

Brief Googling indicates that CCA says the murder can be the predicate felony for the burglary.

Did she enter without effective consent? He opened the door. He didn't say she could come in. If any part of her entered that habitation, she committed burglary when she shot and killed him.

Did she commit intentional or knowing murder? Murder is a conduct-, not result-based, offense. She intentionally or knowingly pointed that gun at him and shot him. Her conduct directly resulted in his death.

Maybe the delay in seeking the warrant is to ensure they have capital murder locked down.

Right?

Right?

It was intentionally causing the death of another, that was her specific intent, which is murder under the Penal code.

Her belief that deadly force was justified under the circumstances was wrong.

If she entered, It could theoretically be a burglary because although she did not enter with the intent to commit a felony or theft, your typical burglary....she did actually commit a felony or assault, which makes it a burglary under 30.02(a)(3) which has an enhanced penalty of a first degree felony under subsection (d). And I suppose it could be the predicate felony for capital murder.

Again, she still has a mistake of fact defense. Doubt it will work, bit it could. You don’t see it much in criminal cases.

Actually, these types of trying to enter the wrong apartment or house cases aren’t all that uncommon. I see them a few times per year. Most of which result in my clients almost getting their ticket punched. Almost exclusively intoxicated.

Never imagined it could happen like this. But I can see how it did.

I think she will do down for Manslaughter. Criminally Negligent Homicide is only a state jail felony, I don’t think a jury will let her off for that.

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ImissWallyPryor

ImissWallyPryor 9,046

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2 hours ago, Pancho Negro said:

Back in 2011, I was living in some new apts in Las Colinas.  Got too drunk and stayed with a friend in downtown Dallas, but when I got back to my place my apt door was busted open.  Called the cops and they came and went in with guns drawn.  When they gave the all clear sign, they asked me to look around to see if anything was taken.  Sure as shit, everything was there.  (Only think worth any value was my laptop and it was sitting right on the table in plain sight.)

Cop said it looks like someone came home too drunk and had the wrong apartment and they realized it soon as they busted in.  

Soon as I heard this story, I thought immediately that's what happened here. 

Alright, who hacked Pancho’s Surly account?

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 32,071

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On 9/8/2018 at 1:01 PM, SDG said:

Paging @TwiceHorn  as maybe he know's better details.  

Not that it matters a whole ton, but the issue of on- or off-duty (and related fact(or)s) only has to do with the city's responsibility for this wrongful death.  It wouldn't seem to have to do with whether the cop has a union lawyer.  However, internal disciplinary matters are often handled according to a union procedure with extra-due process for the cop and a unio rep/lawyer.  This would seem not to involve such an internal disciplinary matter, but rather a straight up crime and civil case not involving the department, much.  Whether the Department can ultimately fire her is probably a union matter.

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clapclapclap

clapclapclap 9,000

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https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-police/2018/09/09/botham-jeans-door-unlocked-amber-guyger-mistook-apartment-official-says

The Dallas police officer who killed 26-year-old Botham Jean in his own apartment got inside because the door wasn’t locked, a law enforcement official said Sunday.

Officer Amber Guyger had just ended a 15-hour shift when she parked on the wrong  level of the South Side Flats garage— the fourth floor instead of the third, where she lived, according to the official who has direct knowledge of the case but is not authorized to discuss it publicly. 

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings also said Sunday that Guyger parked on the wrong floor.

She went to the door she thought was hers but was one floor too high. The four floors of the South Side Flats in the Cedars look the same, with concrete floors and tan doors. A light fixture to the side of each door displays the apartment number.

Guyger, 30, was arrested Sunday on a manslaughter charge and was booked into the Kaufman County Jail. The Texas Rangers are investigating the case at the request of Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall. In the last year, juries have sentenced two police officers in Dallas County to prison time after convicting them of murder. 

The night of the shooting, Guyger didn’t notice that Jean's door had a red doormat in front of it, the official said. Her entrance didn’t have one.

Guyger, who was still in uniform, put her key in the door, which was unlocked, and the door opened, the official said. The lights were out. She saw a figure in the darkness and thought her apartment was being burglarized, the official said. Guyger pulled her gun and fired twice.

When she turned on the lights, she realized she was in the wrong apartment. Jean, who worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers, was shot once in the chest.

Authorities have said Guyger and Jean, a native of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, did not know each other. Guyger, a nearly five-year veteran of the Police Department, had recently moved into the complex.

Guyger called 911 crying, the official said. She repeatedly said, “I thought it was my apartment” and apologized to Jean. 

“I’m so sorry,” she can be heard saying on the recording of the 911 call, the official said. Police arrived within four minutes.

A video taken by someone at the apartment complex shows Guyger in the hallway crying and pacing with a phone to her ear. 

The video shows paramedics rushing by with Jean on a stretcher as a paramedic kneels on top of him, performing chest compressions.

Jean, who is remembered as someone who "loved mankind," was pronounced dead at Baylor University Medical Center.

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clapclapclap

clapclapclap 9,000

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I thought there was conflicting accounts from the neighbors on if she was yelling "Open up" before opening his door, but it reads now like 2 of the neighbors heard multiple cops yelling that, so perhaps after the shooting?  But still doesn't quite make sense.

 

https://heavy.com/news/2018/09/amber-guyger/

Alyssa Kinsey, Jean’s next-door neighbor who was so close she shared a wall with him, wrote on Facebook, “This happened in the apartment next to me, to my very kind and friendly neighbor. I am absolutely heartbroken. Please, please keep his family in your prayers and send love and light their way. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain they are in.” She shared a GoFundMe page for Jean’s family. It reads, “We are mourning the loss of our brother Botham Jean. He was a great Christian example and an inspiration to us all. We are asking for donations to cover funeral arrangements, his family’s travel expenses, and anything else they may encounter. He will be missed.”

In the interview with Heavy, Kinsey said, “I was talking to my boyfriend, heard a shot, then some sort of commotion. Sounded like yelling/running/some loudness so I jumped up, ran to the door, looked out the peep hole, didn’t see anything at that moment but I could hear a woman calling 911 and hyperventilating.”

Kinsey gave Heavy this video showing the hallway in the apartment.

Kinsey told Heavy that she saw the female officer pacing in the apartment hallway. She heard the officer say the apartment number and the words “was shot,” but she adds, “she was pacing away from me at that point.”

After hearing the shooting, Kinsey says, “I then posted on nextdoor app as a warning. I did not hear pounding or yelling before the shot. These halls are echoey so I feel like I’d hear it but maybe not.”

 

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2018/09/06/shooting-reported-cedars-near-dallas-police-headquarters

When Kinsey heard the gunshot at her neighbor's front door Thursday night, she assumed it was a domestic dispute.

"I didn't hear any knocking or yelling beforehand, just the shot," she said. "And then the woman's voice calling 911."

Police didn't indicate that anyone had witnessed the shooting, but two other women who live on the second floor near where the shooting happened said they heard a lot of noise late Thursday.

"It was, like, police talk: 'Open up! Open up!'" 20-year-old Caitlin Simpson said.

Yazmine Hernandez, 20, was studying with Simpson when they heard the commotion.

"We heard cops yelling," she said, "but otherwise had no idea what was going on."

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clapclapclap

clapclapclap 9,000

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Why are officers working 15 hour shifts outside of an unusual event/emergency?  That's just a stupid escalation of potential risk, in almost any line of work, but especially for police where at any moment situations can arise that require split second decisions involving deadly force.  The city of Dallas can afford to waste money on $100 million artistic fake bridges but they can't properly fund enough police to avoid the need for excessive hours?  Not that I can recall Dallas ever having a council that wasn't chock full of corrupt dumbasses.

Edited by clapclapclap
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'stache

'stache 22,131

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Thought there were reports of Jean having a red doormat in front of his apartment?  Were those untrue?  It would have made his apartment easily identifiable.


The report says this is true. His apt had a red mat, hers didn’t. Also said the apartment number is on the door. I’m really struggling to believe the story of it being an accident.
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ImissWallyPryor

ImissWallyPryor 9,046

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Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, 'stache said:

 


The report says this is true. His apt had a red mat, hers didn’t. Also said the apartment number is on the door. I’m really struggling to believe the story of it being an accident.

 

The apartment number is not on the door, according to the article posted by clapclapclap.

Why are you struggling? It was determined to be premeditated way back on page 1. 

Edited by ImissWallyPryor
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Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets 19,453

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17 hours ago, Pancho Negro said:

Back in 2011, I was living in some new apts in Las Colinas.  Got too drunk and stayed with a friend in downtown Dallas, but when I got back to my place my apt door was busted open.  Called the cops and they came and went in with guns drawn.  When they gave the all clear sign, they asked me to look around to see if anything was taken.  Sure as shit, everything was there.  (Only think worth any value was my laptop and it was sitting right on the table in plain sight.)

Cop said it looks like someone came home too drunk and had the wrong apartment and they realized it soon as they busted in.  

Soon as I heard this story, I thought immediately that's what happened here. 

Guy I worked with overseas got all fucked up and came home to his condo.  Tried his key, didn't work, etc. etc.  His wife was home so he started banging on the door trying to get her to wake up and let him in.  Door opens and it's another dude so the guy I worked with (swole as fuck), decks him right in the face a couple of times.  I believe he knocked out a tooth and gave the other guy a black eye.

Well, come to find out he was on the wrong floor and knocked on the wrong door.  To make it even better, the guy he fucked up was the Operations Manager for our number one competitor.  It took our company's legal department a lot of work to prevent our guy from getting deported.

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bernorange

bernorange 8,385

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I will be interested to know what the result of her blood test shows.  I've worked 18 hour shifts before.  You don't lose all your senses after just one day of that. You work 5 days in a row like that and yeah, you start getting a bit loopy.  But if the story is that she legit parked on the wrong floor and was too loopy to notice the red floormat or apt. number on the wall, then I'm guessing she was under the influence of a mind altering substance.

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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 30,553

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I see the shift she worked gets longer and longer. Now up to 15 from 12. I wonder if somebody added three hours to cover her time drinking in the parking lot (I doubt she could drink in a bar in uniform).

Also, as others have pointed out, who cares how long of a shift she just worked? I guess they'll eventually find the magic number of hours to justify blasting someone in their own house.

She just got off a 76 hour shift. She was tired. The guy deserved to die.

It does seem the most likely explanation is a horrible accident, but, unfortunately, the most likely explanation is also the first one that a liar would cook up.

We'll see.

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Gene Parmesan

Gene Parmesan 4,064

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35 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Didn't notice the red mat. Didn't notice that her key didn't unlock the door (if it was unlocked, the wrong key still won't turn in the lock, you would notice that you have a wrong key before trying the knob and opening the door). Still a lot of hard to believe aspects of this story.

Harder to believe than she rented an apartment directly below or above in order to murder someone and try to get off with this excuse?

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formermav43

formermav43 4,620

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On 9/8/2018 at 12:23 PM, 4th and 5 said:

She wasn’t drunk or on drugs. PDs have policies against drinking in uniforms. She just got off a shift. And a full one at that. 

She’s a woman who got lost in her own apartment building. How hard is that to believe?

She can’t work her electronic key. How hard is that to believe? Surprised she even had her keys.

The door won’t open, clearly, this is the door’s fault, or her husband’s fault.

So brother Botham is in his crib, studying some Bible passages, when there is a commotion at his door.

He goes to the door in inquire, and she-cop-who-cannot-be-wrong-but-is-deathly-scared-of-African-American-males pops a cap,in his ass.

 

 

 

Yep. This is still the correct answer. Some of you guys are overthinking it.

She’s incompetent, saw a black man in “her” apartment, and escalated it in typical cop fashion.

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'stache

'stache 22,131

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10 minutes ago, 4th and 5 said:

capital murder - intentional or knowing + attendant circumstance enhancing offense to capital = LWOP or death

Murder - intentional or knowing = F1 5-99

Manslaughter - recklessness = F2 2-20

Criminally Negligent Homicide - criminal negligence = state jail felony - 180d-2y

 

Well then that's bullshit.  She deserves way more than 20 years for this.

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