Amber Guyger’s law team files intent to appeal murder conviction
Dallas County District Attorney moved to have Judge Kemp recused from overseeing the upcoming hearings
Amber Guyger’s law team has started the process to overturn the former Dallas cop’s conviction for the killing of Botham Jean with the filing of an intent to appeal.
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Amber Guyger’s law team has started the process to overturn the former Dallas cop’s conviction for the killing of Botham Jean with the filing of an intent to appeal.
READ MORE:Â Judge Tammy Kemp explains actions of Black bailiff who appeared to primp Amber Guyger in court
Guyger was handed a 10-year sentence for fatally shooting Jean in his Southside Flats apartment, after mistaking his place for her own. One of her attorneys, Robert Rodgers, said that the team has already told the public that they are angling to overturn her sentence and the murder conviction.
In this process, the city is making sure that there is new personnel appointed to the case.
Given that Guyger garnered sympathy from Judge Tammy Kemp in her case, the Dallas County District Attorney’s office filed a petition to have her recused from overseeing the upcoming hearings and replaced by another judge, NBC 5’s media partner KRLDÂ reports.
The Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot still has to face a contempt hearing. Judge Kemp found him in contempt for taking part in an interview ahead of the trial, even after she issued a gag order.
Although Guyger’s team has filed an intent to appeal, legal analyst Ed Klein told KRLD it’s just procedure that gives them the leeway for a 90-day extension to file an appeal and doesn’t mean they will actually file one.
But we all know where this is headed, don’t we?
Former Dallas police officer Guyger was convicted of murder in the killing of Botham Jean after a controversial trial that invoked race, police misconduct and legal definitions of self-defense.
Despite expectations that it would take longer, a jury voted in less than 24 hours to convict. Prosecutors were able to convince them that the Sept. 6, 2018 shooting was not accidental, but an incident in which Guyger deliberately opened fire before properly assessing the situation. The 31-year-old ex-cop has maintained that after a tiring shift, she simply went to the wrong apartment in her residential complex, one floor above her own, believing it was hers and thought Jean, 26, was an intruder.
Guyger was sentenced to 10 years.
