A Texas jury ruled Tuesday thata white police officer who shot and killed an innocent black man in his own home is guilty of murder. The conviction came even after a widely criticized last-minute decision from a judge, which allowed jurors to take into account a controversial law that could have cleared her of wrongdoing.
Dallas County District Court Judge Tammy Kemp ruled Monday that the jury could consider the state’s “castle doctrine” in the trial of Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who said she mistakenly walked into the apartment of Botham Jean, a 26-year-old accountant who lived one floor above her, and then shot him dead in September 2018 because she thought he was a burglar.
The judge’s decision to allow the defense to use the law, which says your home is your castle and you have a right to defend it, raised the bar for prosecutors and sparked outrage and disbelief from critics who questioned how the law could have protected Guyger when she shot Jean in his own apartment.
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