The Criminalization of Botham Shem Jean, What's Next

While many people are outrage including myself, I actually saw this coming. The Police are building their case against Botham, not the other way around like they would like people to think. I can only imagine the trial and them harping on finding Marijuana and the side effects, and his murderer claiming she was just so afraid for her life. I already know this trial is going to anger many. I truly hope the jury understands at the end of the day Botham Shem Jean was in his own place minding his own business. Just like his murderer (Amber Guyger) claimed she thought he was an intruder, he had just as much of a right to feel the same, because he actually knew he was in his own home. 

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A grand jury will ultimately decide whether a Dallas police officer should be charged with murder or manslaughter — or nothing at all — for killing Botham Jean in his own apartment.

But defense attorneys who've handled hundreds of murder cases say murder is the charge that best fits the case against Amber Guyger, who says she mistook Jean for an intruder.

"She intended to kill the burglar," defense attorney Brad Lollar said. "Her thought process was 'I'm going to shoot the bad guy."

The same legal experts say critics demanding justice should be careful what they wish for because a murder case may be easier to defend.

For her part, Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson says her office's investigation will collect all relevant evidence for its own investigation. 

Longtime defense attorney Brook Busbee said the manslaughter charge doesn't fit what law enforcement said happened in Guyger's arrest warrant affidavit.

"We don't know all the facts, but the facts in the affidavit don't appear to match the manslaughter charge, because the act of shooting him wasn't reckless," Busbee said. "According to the affidavit, in her mind, it was intentional."

Defense attorney John Creuzot, a former judge and prosecutor running against Johnson for district attorney, said in similar cases, suspects are charged with murder. The Guyger case is a "deviation from the norm," he said.

"I am not aware of a case in which a person shoots another person in the torso, with death as the result, and is charged with manslaughter," Creuzot said. "In Dallas County, the longstanding practice of our law enforcement agencies, in similar cases, has been to charge suspects with murder."

 

You can read the arrest warrant affidavit by clicking here. 

You can read the full and complete story by clicking here.

My condolences goes out to the close family and friends of Botham, and I asked that everyone continue to support this family through this difficult time and fight for justice.