Convicted murderer and former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger is now claiming that she was justified in the shooting death of Botham Jean in his own apartment and is appealing her conviction.
Guyger’s attorneys have filed legal documents for a new trial or want to have her murder conviction vacated and to “replace it with a conviction for criminally negligent homicide,” The Associated Press reports.
Negligent homicide would carry a maximum punishment of two years in prison.
Guyger is currently serving 10 years in prison for the September 2018 killing of Jean, who was eating ice cream in his own home. Guyger tried to rationalize the shooting by saying she mistook Jean for an intruder because she entered the wrong apartment and thought her life was in imminent danger.
“Her mistaken belief negated the culpability for murder because although she intentionally and knowingly caused Jean’s death, she had the right to act in deadly force in self-defense since her belief that deadly force was immediately necessary was reasonable under the circumstances,” the appeal documents read according to the AP.
The attorneys added that Guyger was not in a position to use non-lethal force, such as a taser, due to the fact that “officers are trained to not use these weapons when faced with a deadly situation.”
The attorney for the Jean family, S. Lee Merritt, responded with a scathing statement, according to the AP.
“After admitting her crime and asking Botham Jean’s family for mercy — Guyger’s actions in filing this appeal reflect someone who is not repentant but instead was hoping to play on the families [sic] sympathies at the time that they were most vulnerable.”
Merritt adds “the jury was instructed on self-defense prior to deliberations and they properly rejected the defense and found Guyger guilty of murder one.”
