Amber Guyger, the Dallas police officer who shot and killed a man inside his own home after barging in on him last year, thinking it was her home, was found guilty of murder today.
Guyger, who was fired after the incident, testified that she not only believed her home was being burglarized, but that the burglar was going to kill her, making her fear for her life.
“I was scared he was going to kill me,” she testified through tears Friday.
And that is normally all it takes for a cop to be acquitted of killing an innocent person.
But this jury did not buy it despite the judge allowing them to consider the castle doctrine which is the Texas’ stand your ground law that allows people to kill somebody to protect their own home.
Dallas County District Judge Tammy Kemp reasoned that because Guyger believed she was in her own home, the jury should be allowed to consider the castle doctrine.
One must ask whether Jean would have been granted the same consideration had he shot and killed Guyger after she entered his apartment with her gun drawn in full uniform.
Guyger likely sealed her fate when she testified that she meant to kill Jean after hearing “shuffling” inside the apartment while she was still outside, oblivious to the red doormat that was a dead giveaway she was at the wrong home.
“Let me see your hands!” she yelled according to her testimony but he failed to comply with her orders.
She was accused of violating departmental policy for entering the apartment without waiting for backup.
She has not been sentenced yet but can receive anywhere from five years to 99 years in prison. She will be sentenced later today.
Jean had been relaxing in his apartment watching football on television and eating a bowl of vanilla ice cream when she entered the apartment. She claimed he walked towards her, making her fear for her life.
But she also claimed she still couldn’t tell she was in the wrong apartment.
Minutes prior to the shooting, she was exchanging racy texts with another cop, Martin Rivera, who was her former lover, which prosecutors said caused her to be distracted when entering the apartment.
She also engaged in a 16-minute telephone conversation with Rivera prior to the shooting and texted him after the shooting saying she needed him because she had “fucked up.”
Both Rivera and Guyger deleted the text conversations from their phones which were later recovered. No word yet on whether Rivera will be disciplined for destroying evidence.
The jury was also allowed to convict her for manslaughter but chose the tougher charge of murder.
We will be updating this throughout the day.