Testimony in the Amber Guyger murder trial continued on Thursday as prosecutors continued to interview witnesses who could attest to her culpability in the death of 26-year old St. Lucian accountant, Botham Jean. The prosecution has rested its case and today, Guyger’s attorneys will have their chance to present her side of the story.
Jean, who was an unarmed Black man, was shot to death by Guyger, a former police officer, when she entered the wrong unit in their Dallas apartment building last September. Guyger was off duty at the time, but has since been fired from the police force.
Her defense team has professed that Guyger acted in self-defense after seeing Jean’s “large silhouette” (which she believed to be a burglar) as she opened the door, but the prosecution says that’s a lie.
The Dallas D.A.’s office has taken most of the week to attempt to prove that Guyger used excessive force and that Jean, who was sitting in the dark, watching television as he enjoyed a bowl of ice cream, posed to visible threat to her whatsoever.
Called to the stand today were Dallas Officer Tu Nguyen. According to the Dallas News, Nguyen’s was one of the officers on the scene who attepted to help Jean by raising his legs onto a pillow in order to move the blood back to Jean’s heart.
READ MORE: Amber Guyger murder trial: Listen to her frantic 911 call
Texas Ranger Michael Adcock who testified that Guyger had a knife and pepper spray in her tool belt, helped to establish the idea that she had other means of stopping a potential intruder if she felt that her life was in danger. The fact that she reached and used her firearm would then not be deemed a reasonable decision.
Assistant District Attorney Jason Hermus questioned firearm/toolmark expert, April Kendrick, who provided details about the 9mm service gun Guyger used to kill Jean including projectile distance and bullet casings. This was to gain a better understanding of whether or not Jean was sitting on the couch when he was shot or standing in front of Guyger.
READ MORE: Family of Botham Jean holds press conference after Dallas police officer arrested for manslaughter
Independent Criminal Investigator, Michael Grice said on the stand that he collected Jean’s red front door mat three days after the shooting, and not the Dallas Police Department. This is a key piece of evidence since it was a rather huge indicator that Guyger was in front of the wrong apartment, 1478 and not 1378.
Wendy L. Wilson is the managing editor of theGrio. Follow her rants, raves, and reviews on Twitter @WendyLWilson_
The post Prosecution rests in Amber Guyger murder trial while defense team now prepares to get the former Dallas officer off appeared first on theGrio.
from theGrio https://ift.tt/2mgSYfv
