Ex-Dallas officer seeks venue change

DALLAS — Lawyers for a former Dallas police officer accused of fatally shooting a neighbor in his own apartment are asking that her murder trial be moved.

Amber Guyger is scheduled for trial in September in the killing of Botham Jean last year. Jean moved to Texas after graduating from Harding University in Searcy.

Guyger’s lawyers said in a court filing on Monday that “prejudicial” media coverage and public officials’ actions have made it impossible for the 30-year-old to get a fair trial in Dallas County.

They said the media has spread a “false narrative” that race motivated the shooting by stating she is white and Jean was black. They also say a former Dallas County district attorney “poisoned the jury pool” by commenting on the case.

The defense has asked that the case be moved to another county in the same judicial district as Dallas.

Guyger, 30, has said she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own. She has said she shot him, thinking he was an intruder.

A lawyer for Jean’s family said the public facts of the case do not bias potential jurors and the trial should be held in Dallas County.

“There is no basis whatsoever for a change of venue and accordingly the feeble motion should be denied,” civil rights attorney Lee Merritt said in a statement. Merritt is one of the attorneys representing the Jean family.

A gag order prohibits the defense and prosecution from speaking publicly about the case.

Jean, originally from the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia, was 26 years old.