A Texas police officer who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing her neighbor in his own apartment filed an appeal Tuesday to have her 2019 murder conviction overturned.
Lawyers representing Amber Guyger requested the former Dallas police officer be convicted of negligent homicide instead of murder. The defense team also asked for a new hearing to determine Guyger’s punishment, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Guyger’s team claimed that while she knowingly fired her gun with the intention of killing Botham Jean, 28, she thought he was an intruder — which justifies her use of deadly force.
Guyger was convicted of murder for fatally shooting Jean, her upstairs neighbor, in his own apartment in September 2018. She claimed she fatally shot Jean in his apartment after mistaking his unit for hers.
“The evidence was legally insufficient to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Guyger committed murder because (1) through mistake, Guyger formed a reasonable belief about a matter of fact — that she entered her apartment and there was an intruder inside — and (2) her mistaken belief negated the culpability of murder because although she intentionally and knowingly caused Jean’s death, she had the right to act in deadly force in self defense since her belief that deadly force was immediately necessary was reasonable under the circumstances,” lawyers wrote in their latest appeal.
It’s not immediately known when the Fifth Court of Appeals will rule on Guyger’s appeal.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast. Listen to a related episode.
[Featured image: Amber Guyger/Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool]
