Judge denies Amber Guyger’s motion to move trial after jury selection

Posted at 7:04 AM, September 17, 2019 and last updated 8:45 PM, May 12, 2023

DALLAS (AP) — The murder trial of a white Dallas police officer who fatally shot her unarmed black neighbor inside his apartment will be held in the city.

State District Judge Tammy Kemp on Monday rejected a motion from Amber Guyger’s lawyers seeking to move her trial for the killing of Botham Jean to another county.

Court TV’s Trial Archives: TX v. Amber Guyger (Wrong Apartment Murder Trial)

Kemp’s decision follows the selection of 12 jurors and four alternates. Guyger’s defense argued media coverage of the high-profile case tainted the jury pool. Prosecutors said the jurors could be fair.

Prosecutor Doug Gladden said 15 of those picked had not formed an opinion of the case and the other can set it aside.

Guyger killed Jean in the apartment building where they lived last September. She said she mistook his unit for her own and mistook him for a burglar. She was later fired.