Well, that didn’t take long. The former Dallas cop convicted of murder this month for fatally shooting her upstairs neighbor has filed notice that she plans to appeal the verdict.
Amber Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison after she was convicted Oct. 1 of murder for gunning down Botham Jean, claiming she mistook the 26-year-old accountant’s apartment for her own and thought he was an intruder.
Guyger attorney Michael Mowla set in motion the appeal process last week, when he filed notice Oct. 16 of her intent to appeal her conviction, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
The notice is just that, and it does not indicate on what grounds Guyger plans to base her appeal, according to the Star-Telegram.
However, Guyger’s legal team tells NBC 5 Dallas Fort Worth that they intend to appeal both the murder conviction and her 10-year sentence.
An unarmed Jean was relaxing inside his apartment Sept. 6, 2018, eating ice cream, when an off-duty, but still in uniform, Guyger entered his home unannounced and uninvited. Guyger, who is white, shot and killed Jean, a black man who hailed from St. Lucia.
After a weeklong trial, it took a jury less than 24 hours to find Guyger guilty of murder, and to then decide on a sentence of 10 years in prison.
The sentencing phase sparked controversy, however.
Not only did Jean’s brother tear up and plead for a hug from his brother’s murderer in a show of forgiveness, but the judge overseeing the trial, Tammy Kemp, hugged the convict as well, saying it was the “Christian” thing to do.
Then, in a tragic plot twist, a key prosecution witness, Joshua Brown, was shot and killed just a week after he testified against Guyger during trial. Dallas police say Brown’s death was the result of a botched drug deal over a couple of pounds of weed—a take many find questionable.
All that said, with the rash of state-sanctioned police killings of black men, women and children in this country—and the clearly implausible tale Guyger told in trying to save her hide—one can only hope that Brown’s tragic death, compounded by the expeditious displays of comfort and forgiveness Guyger was treated to, don’t ultimately translate into a get-of-jail-free card.