Amber Guyger, the white former Dallas police officer who was convicted of shooting Botham Shem Jean (a black man), in his own home, has been sentenced to 10 Years behind bars.
The decision came after witnesses took the stand to shed light on Guyger’s character and the life of Botham Jean. However, during the hearing, evidence of Guyger’s history of making inappropriate and racist jokes was also made public. Apparently, the officer even posted graphics on Pinterest that referred to shooting and killing people, according to evidence that prosecutors presented today during the penalty phase.
Prosecutors used two distinct tactics during the sentencing phase to set the stage for Guyger. They presented emotional testimony from Jean’s family members conveying their deep sense of loss, and they presented Guyger’s social media posts and texts to illustrate her character.
Prosecutors presented text messages (some of which were previously deleted) that referred to Guyger working at the MLK Jr. parade. When referencing the MLK Jr parade in a group chat, someone asked “When does this end lol,” to which Guyger responded “When MLK is dead… oh, wait…” The other person wrote: “HA.” and Guyger then replied, “Geez 2.5 hours going on 3 hours of this…” And later: “Just push them or spray with your pepper spray in that general area.”
In another exchange with her former partner with whom she was having a relationship, he wrote, “Damn I was at this area with 5 different black officers!!! Not racist but damn,” and Guyger responded: “Not racist but just have a different way of working and it shows.”
Prosecutors also presented graphics that Guyger posted on her Pinterest that referred heavily to killing and shooting people in the months leading up to Jean’s murder.
Memes with messages like “stay low, go fast, kill first, die last. One shot, one kill. No luck, all skill.” She captioned it ’Navy SEALS’ with another one that read: “I wear all black to remind you not to mess with me, because I’m already dressed for your funeral.”
Prosecutors argued that any fears Guyger claimed to have of Jean were unreasonable and she should have known she was at the wrong apartment because Jean had a bright red rug outside his door and she did not.
The jury agreed and sided with the prosecution, convicting Guyger of murder and rejecting a lesser charge of manslaughter and a Castle Doctrine defense, which Judge Kemp allowed jurors to consider.
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