Former Dallas cop Amber Guyger sentenced to 10 years in prison for fatally shooting neighbor Botham Jean in his own home
John BaconA Dallas jury on Wednesday sentenced former police officer Amber Guyger to 10 years in prison for fatally shooting a black neighbor after she mistakenly walked into his apartment and mistook him for an intruder.
The sentence was met with boos and jeers by a crowd gathered outside the courtroom. “It’s a slap in the face,” one woman said. Jean family lawyer S. Lee Merritt said Tuesday's guilty verdict should have been expected but convictions of white officers who kill unarmed black men are rare. The community had been"on pins and needles" awaiting the decision, Merritt said.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson lauded the jury for convicting Guyger despite a judge's order that they consider the state's"Castle Doctrine," a law similar to stand-your-ground laws that allows use of force, including deadly force, when someone believes their home, property or life are threatened. "It’s just been like a roller coaster. I can’t sleep, I cannot eat," she said."It’s just been the most terrible time for me."
Prosecutors showed the jury text messages from Guyger's cellphone that hint at insensitivity toward black people.
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