Botham Shem Jean
****************************************************************************
Latest information in Botham Jeans shooting death ... Thanx to WFAA
This posting will serve as Part 32 of the "Police Brutality" series, and I wanted to include it as Part 13 of the "American Exceptionalism" series of this journal/ blog, with an intro briefing video above to open. This is a local case, that got national and international atencion, which it should. And what a mess this damn case is looking to be, as well as the way this has been handled so far ... this case is certainly unique, and a legal mess so far, as far as making a solid case for a conviction. It's a case that I been following, and wanted to have recorded in this journal. Again ... I never put cases in this series/ journal unless it is clear fault of an officer, these are cases, where all your good competent officers should be upset as well, because it leaves a blemish on the department. This is a case where a young 26 year old Dallas businessman had his apartment invaded by a Dallas Police officer neighbour, and was gunned down and murdered, as mistaken identity or whatever ... the excuse was ... wrong hall, wrong apartment, and wrong call, y'all. The officer, Amber Guyger, was involved in another shooting a year ago, suspect lived though, she was cleared, as it was determined as justified. Technically from what I gather, unlike some other states, when charged with murder in Texas, it doesnt appear to have a 2nd degree, it is a first class felony for all murder ("capital murder" though is different, and the most serious, and warrants penalty of death, as far as punishment, or life in prison), but murder can be reduced to 2nd "class" too, and even depending on circumstances in the defendant's case discovered in the trial, which falls into a penalty similar to manslaughter, this may have happened in the confusing sentencing of the Roy Oliver murder trial, in the previous "Police Brutality" posting. Guyger has the right to a fair trial too, for all we know so far, this could have been a mistake, as she is claiming ... regardless of what I or anyone else may feel about this, this is what investigations, evidence, transparency and trials are for.
As loving and full of shit as America is, and the high standards this country has, global prominence, world leaders, liberated, civilized, etc etc ... this is still a country, that has a serious issue when it comes to policing, considering all what we are, which I'll call American exceptionalism, since it's such a popular term. This case made many Dallasites angry, of all race, gender, and class, and it should. And for those who BMB (bitch, moan and bellyache) about NFL players, like Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the National Anthem at a game ... this is exactly the reason why the fuck they do. It is patriotic and in the American spirit, to stand up as Americans against these injustices, whether intentional or not, including taking a knee and questioning this corporate oligarchy that seems to run this country. So wake up, and stop making excuses for this corporate/ political programmed vending machine plastic type patriotism. If you dont believe it as far as corporate influence in the NFL, just look around, at how corporatism/ banking/ finance, has so much influence now ... whether it's naming rights of stadiums, involving themselves in our social issues while dictating thought, pushing their financial and retirement products, to incorporating military/ defense in our sports for recruitment, and more ... take a closer look at how much our thought is being influenced, and how. This is not only the NFL, they have the NBA, NHL, MLB, etc, ... just look at only the last 10 years even. I included some newsread and video below, importantly too, to get an understanding of how the law is going to work in this case. And frankly, in my view so far, this case looks lousy in getting anything significant for the Jean familia criminally, I would hope I'm wrong ... maybe better as far as something on the "civil" end. I mean what? ... maybe if the witnesses statements countering Guyger's account are solid, maybe you can get a different hand to deal in criminal proceedings? ... I dont know. At the bottom, I will add some additional views of my own.
***** STAR- TELEGRAM | FORT WORTH: Botham Jean's family relieved Amber Guyger was charged. Now they want answers ... (newsread/ video)
***** HEAVY.COM: Botham Shem Jean: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know ... (newsread/ video)
Investigation into death of Botham Jean ... Thanx to WFAA
Multiple Criminal Defense Lawyers See No Crime In Off- Duty Officer Shooting ... Thanx to CBSDFW
****************************************************************************
Dallas Cowboys
***** PD/ RCJ: "POLICE BRUTALITY" ... PART'S 31 THRU 1
***** PD/ RCJ: "AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM" ... PART'S 12 THRU 1
****************************************************************************
Thomas Hudson Pickering/ Ranch Chimp
When I first read about this case, was the morning after the shooting went down. And at first, I halfway believed officer Guyger's story, I say "halfway", because I still had alot of questions ... but it did sound like a mistake, yet after reading much more and leaks from residents that were witnesses to what happened, many more questions started getting in my way, it didnt appear so cut and dry. These neighbours are not the anti- cop types, or street type folks. I myself am familiar with this apartment complex, because I used to visit someone that lived there. I can tell you, that this is not some high crime type of complex ... this is one of those gentrification communities in The Cedars District, off southwest edge of downtown Dallas, that was formerly for decades, an old warehouse and manufacturing district. There is lots of new commercial and residential development. This apartment building is fairly nice, with adequate securities, in fact, within a block, across S. Lamar St, is the new Dallas Police Headquarters building, police were on the scene within 4 minutes, because they arrived on foot. You have electronic security gates to enter the building, to access the parking, as well as on the doors inside, a security check door just to enter the hall from the parking garage, and security check doors, to enter even the pool area, weight and club rooms, or whatever. The doors on the apartments work on a electronic key as well, you put your key in, it shows a green light to unlock it, a red light denies you entry, if you insert the wrong key. As far as the apartment door being "ajar"? it cant be without a door stopper of some kind, it's designed to close on it's own (YouTube) ... so either Guyger is mixed up or lying. This is not the kind of place, that is attractive to folks that burglarize apartments, that intend to score quick and get away easy ... too much to fuck with for low end burglars, and too little to score of high value for high end burglars. The tenants that move in, are screened pretty well too ... credit, rental history, salary, employment/ business, criminal history, etc ... so it is not a place where folks with a tainted or questionable history get accepted either. I realize that officer Guyger did not live there too long, but I dont see much reason for her to think that there was a burglary in progress, due to the hassle to get into these, after all, she works a high crime district, and knows the streets after nearly 5 years in it. It is likely that she was a little tense, because she works a special 10 member tactical type elite unit, which she is the only woman on this crew. Her and her crew serve more high profile warrants, and apprehend people that are known to be high risk as far as danger and being armed in the Southeast Division and Pleasant Grove District, this can be a rough area for officers to work, I'm familiar with it, I have friends there, and know some good people in the Grove. But you have an element of organized gang drug dealing and killings, with across the board high crime rates. If you just got off a 12 hour shift, working a hard day in that hood, you may need some time to work off that edge after.
One of the questions I would like to have answered is, what was the exact verbal command that Guyger gave Jean as a warning when she seen him/ silhouette, that he refused to comply with? Nothing has been even halfway clear of that verbal command ... did she first identify herself as a police officer, since it was dark? Should Jean not have seen it/ her in better lighting, since the most light from hallway was behind her? The apartment I was in had light switch close to the door, as most apartments do, did she think about hitting the switch? ... which is a typical first reaction. Officers carry the latest as far as high beam flashlights, really nice small ones too, did she think about using her light? ... I mean, she was wearing her duty belt, and had easy access to everything, not just her sidearm/ gun. A witness neighbour in the same hall ... said that she heard a woman saying "let me in" (similar wording) while pounding on a door, from 2 different witnesses, in 2 different apartments, saying the same thing. And a male voice saying, "God, why did you do that?" (similar wording), I'm sure this must be being carefully investigated, since they have the witnesses. I mean, if this is so, it is in conflict with what Guyger is saying ... not unless, there was someone else in the hall doing and saying this. How long did Guyger have to tell her story? There is nothing that shows, except for the call she made to 911, which hasnt been released yet, of when she gave her first account. Was it to arriving fellow DPD officers?, or not until she was interviewed later by the Texas Rangers?, which is a state agency ... what is the official first statement? They say that DPD immediately took her blood, before releasing her, this is for alcohol/ drugs, we dont know the results. It is common with some officers that work details such as hers, to stop off after duty in uniform, to take in a quick drink, to take the edge off ... wearing a uniform gets you special deals, prices at some places, that officers know and frequent. The hallways do look similar in the building, but there is usually little things, like a plant, or certain item on a wall, door, or doormat, large numbers on walls of floors, such as 4, 3, 2 & 1, that become familiar as far as identifying the floor, since you use it daily, she lived there. I have to question as well, did she go directly from the 4th floor parking to the hall, because of another witness statement that I read in an article ... and you do have elevators. She was officially off duty, but wearing her uniform ... the department asks officers, as soon as they finish their shift, to change back to their civilian clothes too, so that mistakes are not made as far as which officers are on or off duty. Why did Guyger make bond way out in Kaufman County, request of Rangers or her? She bonded immediately on an above average bond for a manslaughter case on an officer, with $300,000 (most manslaughter cases on officers are vehicle related, not shooting, perhaps that's why the higher bond). Someone either put up the whole $300K cash bond, which they'll get back after the final disposition of the case, otherwise, if they went the $30K amount through a bonding agency (10%+fees amount), and the bonding agency backed the rest, they wont get back none of the $30K.
DPD Chief Renee Hall, immediately called in Texas Rangers to take over the investigation, before DPD could even sort things out for their own shit? Hall said, Guyger's department requested it. I mean, Chief Hall is new, she just came on as Chief, she was the former deputy chief of Detroit, and she is not broke in yet on Dallas, and she herself admitted it will be a challenge, due to the size of Dallas geographically, and with what is labeled as the "DPD officer exodus", being we are short several hundred officers that walked and left. Over the last 4 years, about 1000 police officers walked and quit, that's alot of officers, from what I gathered last in mid 2017. And some established, those higher in ranks and long timers, are not very confident in her yet, it takes time, she is also the first woman chief ... why did Guyger's department really request Hall to make that move?, I mean, they requested to the Chief to do this (more like, told her), Hall didnt do it on her own, they say it was to have an outside unbiased investigation ... I dont buy it ... I dont think they wanted Hall and DPD to do the first investigation and questioning drill of Guyger. If Guyger was off duty and involved in a homicide, as a "civilian", whether manslaughter or murder suspicion, why was she not immediately detained in Dallas County? If, since this was Jean's home, he decided to exercise the "castle law" as self defense on an intruder against Guyger, you can bet your ass, if still alive after, that Jean would be detained immediately ... and DPD would have sole dibbs on investigation/ interrogation ... I would bet Texas Rangers would have not been called in. Why did Texas Rangers take so long to get an arrest warrant? ... is it because they cant figure out whether to charge as manslaughter or murder? According to defense and prosecuting attorneys both, this has to be a murder case, as explained above. At least Dallas County DA Faith Johnson is ready to roll, and get this to the jury, and the jury is going to have the final call, and Johnson is politically Republican, imagine that. But DA Johnson, been wasting no time in getting things done, as far as this, or even the last local case against Officer Roy Oliver, in the Jordan Edwards murder. I would hope that Faith Johnson is straight about these prosecutions, but so far, she has been, with the exception of the jury misunderstanding during the sentencing of Oliver ... I still dont understand what happened in that. But, looking at this case so far, on just what you have now ... it doesnt look too good as far as getting some solid significant conviction of Guyger at all. And you heard how confident one defense attorney was above, on if he had to defend Guyger on a murder case, he's confident, she would walk ... and looking at all you have now, that sounds logical. And considering so far, this does not fall into the manslaughter category of offense, or 2nd class felony offense, despite the official manslaughter charge ... being the shooting/ murder was "intentional", and if you take the "mistake of fact" into account at a trial, what if much at all, kind of conviction/ sentence would she be facing? ... or what would it get worked down to?
Word Out ....
****************************************************************************
Allison Jean with her son Botham Jean
*****************************************************************************
***** RANCH CHIMP JOURNAL "WELCOME" POST
***** RCJ MUSIC/ ART'S HONOUR ROLL SOCIETY (my hand- selected music/ arts picks)
***** "THE RESISTANCE | PERILS OF THE POWER POSSE" ... ( a 2 part futuristic Ranch Chimp Journal dream to dream on )
****************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment