Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer who killed an unarmed Black man in his apartment, has filed an appeal for the murder conviction, according to USA Today.
The attorneys representing the former cop have filed papers for an appeal of her murder conviction. Guyger filed an appeal last week to have her murder conviction overturned after being convicted for shooting and killing Botham Jean, her Black unarmed neighbor, inside his home.
The former police officer is serving 10 years in prison for the crime committed on Sept. 6, 2018. She testified in court that she mistook Jean for an intruder when she erroneously entered his apartment, on another floor, claiming to think it was her apartment, after working a shift. Guyger, 31, who was in uniform at the time but was off-duty, shot and killed Jean with her service weapon while he was eating a bowl of ice cream in his home.
Guyger’s attorneys are seeking a lesser charge, criminally negligent homicide, and a new hearing for Guyger, according to court documents.
“The evidence was legally insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Guyger committed murder,” her attorneys argued in a court document as reported by
ABC News. They stated that Guyger had “the right to act in self-defense since she believed that deadly force was necessary under the circumstances” because of her “mistaken belief” that she had entered her apartment and found an “intruder” inside, court documents show.Jean’s family responded with disappointment about the legal filing:
“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 sympathies at the time that they were most vulnerable,” S. Lee Merritt, the attorney for the Jean family, said in a statement.