Amber Guyger, who was convicted of murder after she shot and killed Botham Jean in 2018 as he sat in his living room eating ice cream, is ready to go home.
The former police officer claimed she thought she was entering her own apartment when she allegedly mistook Jean for an intruder and then shot and killed him. She was sentenced in 2019 to 10 years in prison, but her defense attorneys attempted on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, to get her murder conviction tossed in a Dallas, Texas, appeals court.
One of Guyger’s lawyers, Michael Mowla, asked the appeals court to acquit her of murder or find her guilty of criminally negligent homicide, which carries a lesser sentence, if her full acquittal is not granted. Guyger was not present during the proceedings and remains behind bars.
“I agree she did intentionally shoot Mr. Jean because that was her intent. That was the truth. Those were the facts of the case,” Mowla said in court documents obtained by ABC News.
He also added that his client thought she was protecting herself.
“My client, according to the facts, had a reasonable apprehension of danger when she walked into what she thought was her apartment,” he said. “If we agree that she thought she walked into her apartment, then the mistake of fact instruction applies. And then the question is, was her belief, was her apprehension of the danger, reasonable?”
Speaking to the three-judge panel, prosecutor Douglas Gladden shot down that argument, insisting that the former police officer’s appeal should be denied because “mistake of fact” is not a justifiable defense.
“This is a murder case, not a criminal trespass case. When Amber Guyger shot Botham Jean, she didn’t take someone else’s property. She took the life of a human being,” Gladden said in the court records obtained by ABC. “She knew Botham was a living human being. She pointed a gun at him. She intended to kill him. That’s murder. It’s not mistake of fact, it’s not justified. Amber Guyger murdered Botham Jean. This court should say so and affirm the trial court’s judgment.”
Chief Justice Robert Burns will give the court’s decision at a later date.
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