Amid all the Chicago Cubs angst that has been in my Twitter feed of late was this tweet from the Dallas Morning News:
Former Dallas officer Amber Guyger's murder trial delayed in slaying of Botham Jean https://t.co/RHdhIN1FnA
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) April 2, 2019
Guyger’s murder trial was supposed to begin on Aug. 12, but it seems like one of her attorneys is to blame for it being pushed back until Sept. 23, according to the Dallas Morning News:
State District Judge Tammy Kemp signed an order [April 1] moving the trial from August to Sept. 23 in the slaying of Dallas accountant Botham Jean.
Kemp’s order came after Guyger’s attorney Robert Rogers and Toby Shook filed a motion seeking a continuance. They requested the delay between Shook is lead attorney in a federal trial that begins July 29 and is expected to last two to three weeks, court records show.
Without the delay, the defense’s motion said, Shook could not properly prepare to defend Guyger.
Guyger was arrested and charged with manslaughter on Sept. 9, three days after she shot and killed Jean, a 26-year-old risk assurance associate in PwC’s Dallas office, in his Dallas apartment.
Guyger, who had just finished a shift but was still in full uniform, told authorities that she mistook Jean’s apartment for hers and thought her home was being burglarized. Guyger lived in an apartment one floor directly below Jean’s apartment. She told authorities that she parked on the wrong level of the South Side Flats apartment complex’s garage—the fourth floor instead of the third, where her apartment was located.
After being arrested, Guyger was released from jail on $300,000 bond.
The Dallas Police Department fired Guyger on Sept. 24 for engaging in adverse conduct. She had worked at the department for nearly five years.
After two days of hearing evidence in late November, a Dallas County grand jury on Nov. 30 upgraded Guyger’s charge from manslaughter to murder. She turned herself in to authorities that afternoon and was released on $200,000 bond.
Kemp issued a gag order on Jan. 8, preventing attorneys and Guyger from speaking publicly about the case.
