Dallas officer’s fatigue, history key unknowns
Toxicology results, 911 recording await release
HOUSTON — A white Dallas police officer’s explanation that she killed a black neighbor who lived above her because she mistook his apartment for hers has been dismissed as implausible and self-serving by his family members and their lawyers.
Experts on police training and psychologists, however, are split as to the credibility of officer Amber Guyger’s story about how she came to kill 26-year-old Botham Jean. That credibility will be key to whether a grand jury will indict Guyger and whether she could convince a trial jury that the killing was justifiable.
Guyger, 30, has been booked on a charge of manslaughter in the killing of Jean, whose funeral was Thursday, a week after the deadly encounter. Guyger told investigators that she parked on the wrong floor of her building after returning home from work late that night and mistakenly entered Jean’s apartment.
She said it was dark inside and she thought Jean was a burglar, and that she shot him after he didn’t obey “verbal commands.”
Lawyers for the Jean family have alleged Guyger has been given preferential treatment. They have also criticized Guyger’s version of events, saying it is meant to portray her actions in the best possible light.
Some experts who aren’t connected to the case say Guyger should have recognized what was going on.
“Law enforcement has no place for fearful officers,” said Jameca Woody Falconer, a police psychologist based in St. Louis.
Experts interviewed by The Associated Press agreed that many questions have to be answered before Guyger’s credibility can be judged. They include whether Guyger was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, her level of fatigue or any history of emotional or medical problems.
Authorities haven’t released the recording of Guyger’s 911 call or the results of her toxicology tests.