Dallas officer charged with manslaughter

[struggle4progress]

Claire Z. Cardona, Breaking News Producer
CRIME AT 50 MIN AGO

The Dallas police officer who fatally shot Botham Jean in his apartment Thursday night has been arrested ...

Amber Guyger, 30, was arrested in Kaufman County and booked Sunday evening ... She has been charged with manslaughter ...

Bail was set at $300,000 ...

Dallas police Chief U. Renee Hall said Saturday that a judge had not yet signed a warrant for Guyger because the Texas Rangers ... wanted to .. investigate further ... The Texas Rangers have been tight-lipped ...

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2018/09/09/dallas-officer-amber-guyger-arrested-fatally-shooting-botham-jean-apartment

[struggle4progress]

1. Off-duty officer charged

BY PRESCOTTE STOKES III
September 09, 2018 04:59 PM
Updated 5 minutes ago

... Amber Guyger was taken into custody at 7:20 p.m. ...

Guyger’s Bond was set at $300,000 and she posted bail less than an hour after being arrested ...

https://www.star-telegram.com/latest-news/article218101230.html

[kiri]

29. posted $300,000 within 60 minutes...

The bail system is weird and corrupt. It may seem strange that she posted $300,000 within 60 minutes. I have assets/resources many times more, and I could not round up cash, bank statements, deeds, etc. for $300,000 in less than a day.

But for the 'right' people, the bail bondsman only wants 10%, $30,000. Only the wrong people need to come up with the full amount.

BTW, the bondsman will keep the 10% as his fee. Easy money.

[mr_lebowski]

66. That's not exactly accurate, I'm afraid ...

Bail bondsmen are private actors ... you pay them 10% of your bail amount, which is forfeit the second you give it to them, and they shell out (to the court) the remaining 90% of your bail. In exchange, you basically promise on your honor to not f*** them over by splitting town.

The only time they will refuse to enter into this agreement with you is if they have serious reservations WRT whether you may be a flight risk i.e. someone who won't show up to their court dates, which could cause them to lose the 90% of your bail they shelled out to the government on your behalf.

Their decision-making has little to do with you being the 'right' or 'wrong' sort-of person, in any traditional sense ... rather, it's based on their perception of your ability and/or proclivity to banter off ... instead of facing the music, as it were.

Honestly, a bondsmen is much more likely to refuse to help you if thinks you're rich enough to run off to Costa Rica ... than if he thinks you're dreadful child molester, or gay, or black, or probably any way that most people would imagine that 'the wrong people' ... might be defined by some random arbiter.

Just saying

[True Dough]

2. I'm going to make a point of following this trial

I hope justice is served.

[USALiberal]

4. I predict some easy plea deal with no jail time. nt

[jberryhill]

6. Yup

[True Dough]

7. That would be a miscarriage of justice

There should be riots of that happens.

[recentevents]

35. Seriously?

There should NEVER be riots. We should NEVER call for rioting. Peaceful, organized protests are the preferred response to injustice.

[True Dough]

38. It's not like I go around regularly calling for anarchy

But based on precedent, this case would put protesters in the streets if the police officer is allowed to walk away.

[recentevents]

55. As they should be

But protesters are not rioters. There is a huge difference.

[tammywammy]

10. I wouldn't expect that, not with this Dallas DA

The same Dallas DA that got the Balch Springs police officer convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years.

[USALiberal]

11. Thanks for the info, I hope you are right! nt

[joshcryer]

58. Average jail time is 4 years for cops.

In Texas it is 2 years minimum.

She'll get 2 years and serve 1.

[jberryhill]

5. I doubt there will be a trial

[Cha]

3. I've been waiting for news on this.. was just posting

about it.

Thanks, struggle!

[USALiberal]

8. Also, already bailed out. Amazing. nt

[Cha]

9. Picture at booking..

Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was arrested Sunday for investigation of manslaughter after allegedly entering the wrong apartment and fatally shooting the resident there, Botham Shem Jean, 26.

snip//

Guyger, of Dallas, was arrested in Kaufman County and booked into the Kaufman County Jail, the Texas Rangers said in a statement.

The shooting just before 10 p.m. local time (11 p.m. ET) at the South Side Flats, an upscale apartment building south of Dallas’ downtown, occurred when Guyger was off-duty, police said

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dallas-officer-who-entered-wrong-apartment-killed-man-arrested-manslaughter-n907976

[Pachamama]

12. She does not look healthy or well

Just an observation- possibly loss of sleep in recent days and stress. But she looks like she is doing drugs or is sick.

[LisaL]

13. My guess is she was crying.

That's why her eyes look so puffy.

[Cha]

15. Yeah, she looks bad. My first

thought was she's been crying a lot.

It was reported earlier that when they were taking Botham Jean out of his apt.. that she was on video crying to someone on the phone. It looks like she continued on.

[Crunchy Frog]

64. opioid addiction maybe? n/t

[Pachamama]

65. That's what it looks like to me

Sadly

[Aristus]

22. Aw, Daddy's Little Princess haz a sad...

Sorry, my sympathies are with the family of the murdered man.

Sure, manslaughter is the charge the DA decided to go with. But if the skin colors in the incident had been reversed, you can be damned sure Murder One would be on the docket...

[leftstreet]

31. +1

I shit you not, I've actually seen responses on Twitter claiming "she looks like she's really suffered already"

Who gives a shit. The victim probably looks a lot worse

[7wo7rees]

47. Manslaughter to keep the riots away.

There's a coverup here for sure, but TPTB won't give her a bigger pass that this. Throw the bitter, vigil-having mourners a bone, and MAYBE they won't burn the city down.

There will be no investigation details heard, no conspiracy tolerated, and nothing but a plea deal to sweep this away ASAP.

RIP Mr. Jean.

FTP

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. Depending on the jurisdiction, murder charges could come later.

At least in my state, first-degree murder has to be charged by indictment, but any charges below that can be charged by complaint. Don't know what the rule is in TX.

[jberryhill]

72. Is she wearing a towel?

[tammywammy]

74. Some counties do this around here.

Here's an article about Colin county, which has since discontinued the practice.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Why-Are-Collin-County-Suspects-Wearing-Towels-204110231.html

[jberryhill]

82. Ah.. it would be nice if it was a hot towel

So many jails have piss-poor amenities. A hot towel would get an extra star on Yelp, for sure.

[sheshe2]

14. About time.

What took them so long? Oh wait, she is white and he is black while living in his own FUGGING APARTMENT.

[Johnny2X2X]

16. Hope Justice is served

You’ll notice that whenever an officer is a suspect the full story will not be known for several weeks or even months. Why is this? Because officers know their rights when they are accused of a crime. They say nothing until they’ve talked with their lawyer and even then they say the bare minimum.

Interested to hear the details.

[exboyfil]

43. Fellow cops tell them to keep

Their mouths shut. She wanted to call her partner, and another cop told her to not say anything. A regular citizen would not be warned, and the cops would have their ears out.

[joshcryer]

59. Yep, cops know not to talk.

Of course they know this as they sit there and force a confession out of you through their lies, or even fabricate a story about you with forced answers that are taken out of context and misleading. They also lie constantly, throughout the day, as a part of their daily activities, and many of them don't even know the laws that they're implementing nor are they required to know the laws. It's a racket.

[ProudLib72]

17. At the very least, she should never be allowed to carry again

I'm thinking a few years in prison, kicked out of the PD, and never allowed to carry. That is the minimum that needs to happen. Plus, Dallas PD needs to have better vetting of officers and much better training.

[Johnny2X2X]

18. We have no idea what really happened.

The police have put out a story that she entered the wrong apartment by mistake. We do not yet know if that is true. Perhaps it wasn’t a mistake, perhaps she was angry after work. Maybe she knew the victim.

I just find it odd that her version of the story is basically the headline for this all over.

[ProudLib72]

19. I agree that it is suspicious

Even if we accept the PD's version, she should get the minimum I proposed. What I really want is for Dallas PD to assume some responsibility here. They gave her the authority. They supplied her with a firearm. In any case, she shouldn't have shot her neighbor dead.

There are versions of the story that include how she was over tired and not thinking straight. Whose fault would that be? Dallas PD, that's who. But I suspect we will never get an accurate version of events. It's easier to blame a single cop than an entire department.

[VMA131Marine]

68. There's no need to speculate when this information is out there in the news stories

There's no evidence Amber Guyger knew Botham Jean. There has been a picture going round social media that purports to show both of them, but the person they are saying is Guyger is not her.

Guyger did not get into the apartment. Her key fob wouldn't open the door (duh! Why would it). She shot Jean as he was opening the door. Jean's apartment had a unique red mat outside the door that should have been a clue to Guyger that she was at the wrong place.

[Johnny2X2X]

70. The headline is speculation too

Last edited Mon Sep 10, 2018, 09:00 AM - Edit history (1)

The headline that she mistakenly entered the wrong apartment is speculation too. We simply don’t k ow if that’s true, but that’s the way this issue has been framed from the start. If it had been he who shot her in her own apartment this would not be the story.

I just find it self serving for the PD to put out the state of mind of the shooter at the time of the crime, that's not how it usually works. I can guarantee if the shooter had been a black male and the victim a white female, the headline would be "Beloved pillar of the community shot in cold blood by heartless animal" or something similar. There would be none of this, "The shooter had a long day at work and mistakenly entered the wrong apartment."

[Haggis for Breakfast]

20. IMHO

This whole thing stinks to high heaven. Their story just does not holds up.

If the Dallas PD wants to tamp down emotions and anger, then some very fundamental questions need to addressed NOW.

1) HOW did she gain access to the man's apartment ? Her key should not have fit his lock. Was his door open or even unlocked ? Did he open it to her ? Did she say anything to him that would warrant him opening the door for her ?

2) What conversation passed between her and Mssr. Jean once the door was opened ?

3) How much time elapsed between her entering the unit and her firing her first round ? (Do we know how many rounds she fired ?)

4) How much time elapsed between her shooting and her call to 911 ?

Tensions are going to flare fast if some simple questions are not first answered. Sadly, we are at a place in this country where relations between communities - largely due to the rhetoric coming from the White House - have been inflamed to the point of spontaneous combustion. Dallas PD needs to get very candid very quickly.

[tammywammy]

21. Dallas PD is no longer in charge of the investigation, they handed this over to the Texas Rangers.

[RockRaven]

23. I'll add one: how quickly (or not at all) was a breathalyzer/BAL or blood/urine drug screen done?

because if it wasn't done promptly for something that passes quickly that helps allow room for a bogus impairment excuse which does not absolve, but helps obscure a more nefarious motive.

Look, if public trust is an issue, and IT IS, they better have acted swiftly to secure all relevant evidence.

[caraher]

50. I read some stories about this

My understanding of the stories I read is that she tried her key in the door and it didn't work. Mr. Jean heard someone trying to get into the department and opened it to her, and the shooting happened shortly thereafter. Nobody seems to know what may have transpired between them.

One scenario might be that she still thought it was her apartment (despite the key not working? And despite the distinctive red welcome mat that I'm sure her apartment did not have?) when the door opened and her lizard brain kicked in, equating dark skinned male with danger. That's the nature of implicit bias - it isn't part of the conscious mind.

Manslaughter seems to be the right verdict for this kind of scenario (driven by a too-ready acceptance of gun violence and the cancer of racism in the national psyche). But there could be a lot going on that I don't know about. I also read she'd only been in that building for a month, which suggests it's probably not likely to have stemmed from a long-simmering personal issue between them.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

24. More news snippets from Dallas...

News 11 anchor twitter...

Link to tweet

This is an excellent Twitter page started for the man that was killed:

https://twitter.com/search?q=%20Botham%20Jean&src=typd

He was originally from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia........

[Cha]

36. Mahalo, KY

Botham Jean

[KY_EnviroGuy]

41. Crying shame, Cha.

Everything I read on that Twitter thread implied he was an outstanding young man with a bright future, and quite an inspiration to young people as well.

But, in the big picture of things, so are most of those killed by guns or other forms of human violence on this planet...

Peace...... .........

[Cha]

44. I know.. it's so heartbreaking.

A random act of fatal violence just opening your own door. Some things just really get to you.

Botham Jean and his loved ones

[KY_EnviroGuy]

49. And, those poor souls are facing a hurricane this week.

Isaac will hit St. Lucia on Wednesday night. Double trouble for his family and friends that live there.

Good thoughts and lots of love transmitted their way and I hope they get all the support they need. Apparently, his mom lives in Dallas and had these words for us in a video at the link below:

"Botham Would Want Me to Get Justice for Him," Says His Mother
2016 Harding Grad Shot & Killed by Dallas Police Officer

https://www.kark.com/news/web-extras/web-extra-botham-would-want-me-to-get-justice-for-him-says-his-mother/1425674512
(snip)

Botham was a 2016 graduate of Harding University in Searcy.

“My son loved everybody. He loved God. He lived a very excitable life in the church. He sang very well,” said his mom. “I don’t want to judge her. We are Christians. We forgive. But I need to look into her eyes, and ask her why did she do that to my son. She took away my heart. My soul. He didn’t deserve to die. The explanation does not make sense.”

...... .......

[Cha]

53. Oh No.. I hope Hurricane

Isaac does minimal damage to St Lucia and nearby Islands.

reading what Ali Jean had to say about her son, Botham.. it's unbearably sad for them and anyone with empathy.

"..He was in his sanctuary in the place where he called home"

Thank you for the link.. it was so sad but I watched it.

[JI7]

42. even assuming everything she claimed was true, why is her first thought to shoot ? would she have

shot him if he was a white man ?

what if it was some building inspector or someone else . so even if it was her apartment to immediately shoot is still fucked up . after all he opened the door . it's not like she was inside and someone broke into the apartment.

[exboyfil]

45. Yep

Basically the cop always get the surprised excuse. See the case in Georgia where the high school student opened the door holding a Wii controller. The cop in NYC that shot the man in the stairwell. Blacks are the tip of the spear, but cops can kill us all with little accountability. I think she would have shot a white man under this same set of conditions. Unless she has a clear racist past, you can't ever prove otherwise. I hope they can sustain a manslaughter charge, but history isn't promising.

[joshcryer]

61. I think she would've been less prone to shoot a white guy.

She no doubt has built in biases against minorities due to her day to day work activities.

It is quite messed up, though, that police have the "surprise fear" excuse but civilians don't.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

46. We likely won't know those answers until it goes to court.

Obviously this is conjecture but from what I've pieced together, she may have honestly gone to the wrong door and fiddled with the key in frustration (I traveled for years and did that several times in hotels after long hard days).

At that point, he probably heard the noise and peeped through his peeper and may have even recognized her (most people are aware of any cops living in their area), then opened the door to assess the situation. Next, since she still thought she was looking at her own door, when it opened suddenly she may have panicked, drew her weapon and fired.

And, as we all know they are now mostly trained to always shoot to kill if they feel endangered.......

[caraher]

52. Partly police training, I think, and partly racism

There is so much emphasis on officer safety above all else that they seem to be trained to shoot first if they have any worries about being attacked.

And, even if she didn't have a consciously racist bone in her body, implicit bias - to which we are all subject - definitely increases the chances of regarding a non-white male as more threatening and thus make a shooting more likely.

Lethal force is too readily available for the frailty of human decision-making, even in the best of circumstances.

[joshcryer]

60. Because she's a cop.

Shoot first ask questions later is literally their training.

[Crunchy Frog]

54. Hate to say it, but...

I think the only way that justice will be served is if she suicides.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

56. I won't pass judgment, but....

her life is ruined regardless. Even if this was mistaken judgment (see post #46), the emotional stress and shame will haunt her for the rest of her days.

Only a true psychopath could survive this event unscathed.

[Crunchy Frog]

57. I certainly hope that she never has a day's peace for the rest of her life. n/t

[LandOfHopeAndDreams]

81. We Know That's Not Gonna Happen

She looks like a princess, she will never consider something like that.

[mountain grammy]

25. There's a photo with her and the victim and another couple.

At the very least, they were acquainted. Much more to this story.

[LisaL]

27. No, there isn't.

Don't believe all the crap you see on social media. There is a photo of the man who was killed, with his female co-workers.
Neither of these females are her.

[mountain grammy]

33. You're right, this dope was duped.

Just that her story was so stupid, I jumped to the conclusion that there's more. I still think there's more.

[USALiberal]

28. Fake news! Nt

[madaboutharry]

30. Where did you see this photo?

Do you have a link?

If that were true don’t you think it would be everywhere?

[mountain grammy]

32. I'm burned.. sorry everyone.

don't know why I was sucked into that. saw it on twitter. Her knowing the man makes more sense than her stupid story, but I jumped to conclusions.

[LisaL]

37. It's a false rumor spread on social media.

There is a photo of the man who was killed with his co-workers, that was passed on social media to falsely claim the cop who killed him knew him.

[Cha]

34. The internet is wrong. Botham Jean and Officer Amber Guyger didn't pose together for a photo

snip//

The photo was taken from Jean's Instagram account, and amateur internet detectives have reposted it endlessly to claim that Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger knew Jean before she killed him in his own apartment Thursday night.

People may insist the woman on the left is Guyger, but it's one of Jean's colleagues at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, a company spokeswoman said

The Dallas Morning News is not publishing the widely shared photo because the women have nothing to do with the case.

The photo shows Jean, a risk assurance associate at the company, with a group of friends. None of them works in law enforcement, the spokeswoman said.

Rumors have been swirling that Guyger was dating Jean. But the two did not know each other, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told The Dallas Morning

More..
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2018/09/09/internet-wrong-botham-jean-officer-amber-guyger-didnt-pose-together-photo

[mountain grammy]

39. Thanks for setting the record straight.

I should have known better, but her story is so unbelievable, to me anyway. She's a cop making a mistake like that? This story is very disturbing, I sure don't need to make it worse.

[Cha]

40. No worries.. we all get it wrong at one

time or another, I bet. I know I do.

Botham Jean

[Jake Stern]

48. Sadly

the only thing that might assure the victim gets some kind of justice is that he's the son of a cabinet minister in Saint Lucia.

[AdamGG]

62. Her story is just so implausible

You're on the wrong floor of your apt. building (and don't multiple door numbers in the hallway show the floor number?). When a person you're not expecting answers the door, don't you notice that the furniture in the background doesn't match your place?

Even if she genuinely thought it was her place, fatally shooting an unarmed person in the first seconds of the encounter should go against police training and common sense. It sounds like she's George Zimmerman with a badge.

[Cha]

63. Unless she was drunk.. seems like that's what

drunk people would do.

[jberryhill]

71. either way, she's a danger to society

[uponit7771]

67. +1, She lived on the first floor and walked to the second floor ... that in and of itself sounds ...

... fishy, she would've known she was walking up stairs.

Then he's a single guy, most likely his apartment would've looked nothing like hers at all from sound to smell to colors etc.

She'll have to say he tried to attack her to avoid jail time, then ish will get really thick

[no_hypocrisy]

69. She'll have to say he tried to attack her to avoid jail time

Castle Doctrine

The victim has the right to use deadly force to protect him/herself and occupants from an intruder.

I think she's going to jail. The issue is for how long.

[riverwalker]

73. It was 4th floor

and she lives on 3rd. The parking ramp is connected, so you drive to your floor end enter.

[ck4829]

75. Kick

[riverwalker]

76. Her new story is that door was unlocked

and lights were off, she saw him and shot twice, then turned on lights. All of which she made up. I doubt the 26 year old Victim goes to bed 9:30~10pm. People turn on the lights first thing when entering your home. The “lights off and the unlocked door” story have only two witnesses, and one is dead.
The “lights off” is to avoid being accused of racially motivated since her brother is shown giving Aryan nation “peckerwood” gang signs in her photo with him.

[riverwalker]

77. Link to photo

Link to tweet

?s=21

[JustAnotherGen]

80. Interesting

So was she lying in the first story, this story, or both?

When the stories change it makes it very hard to believe anything she says.

[kcr]

79. Racist, right wing BS not welcome here n/t