Update 9-13-19 9:45pm:
The jury is set in the in the upcoming murder trial of a former dallas police officer.
Hundreds of potential jurors in the Amber Guyger trial were questioned by the defense and prosecutors Friday. The remaining jurors were sent home after 7p.m. last night and the selections were made before 9 p.m. Friday night.
Guyger told police that she mistook Botham Jean’s apartment for her own before shooting him to death last September, thinking he was an intruder.
Defense lawyers initially tried to have the trial moved to another county because of what they called “media hysteria” surrounding the case.
Update at 2:30pm:
Prosecutors have begun questioning potential jurors in the murder trial of a white former police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black neighbor in his own home.
The 220 potential jurors were being asked Friday whether they would look at the case differently because Amber Guyger was a police officer when she fatally shot Botham Jean last year.
Some would-be jurors said she should be held to a higher standard. Others said they couldn’t convict her because she was a Dallas police officer.
The demographic of the jury will be closely watched. Assistant District Attorney Jason Fine asked how many people knew “nothing” about Guyger’s case, and only about a dozen raised their hands.
Attorneys for the former Dallas police officer requested in July that her trial be moved to another county.
Original story:
Dallas (WBAP/KLIF) – Both sides in the murder trial of a former Dallas police officer are hoping to have a jury finalized by the end of today.
Amber Guyger is charged with killing Botham Jean in his apartment just over a year ago. She says that she mistakenly entered her apartment thinking it was her own and shot him, believing that he was an intruder.
Defense attorneys had previously pursued a change of venue, but the trial judge delayed a decision on the request until the jury selection process got underway.
A defense attorney not connected to the case, Brad Lollar, says the judge could still decide to move the trial out of Dallas…but that the chances are low.
“It doesn’t matter under the law about whether a perspective juror has heard about the case. What matters is because of what they’ve heard they have made a decision about the case that’s going to disqualify them.”
Four thousand people were summoned, and 800 or so showed up last week
The trial begins in a week from Monday
((Copyright 2019 WBAP/KLIF 24/7 News)
