Amber Guyger's attorneys want her murder trial for killing Botham Jean moved out of Dallas

Jennifer Emily and Dana Branham

Updated at 4:20 p.m.: Revised to include a statement from an attorney for Botham Jean's family.

Fired Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger's attorneys asked a judge Monday to move her murder trial out of Dallas, citing "media hysteria" surrounding the fatal shooting of Botham Jean.

Guyger, 30, killed Jean on Sept. 6 inside his apartment when she was off duty but still in uniform. Authorities said she mistook his apartment for her own. She said his door was unlocked and she thought Jean, a 26-year-old accountant from St. Lucia, was a burglar.

Guyger's attorneys, Robert Rogers, Toby Shook and Michael Mowla, argued in their court filing that the "publicity surrounding this case has been prejudicial and inflammatory." Jean's death was international news, and area media outlets published a stream of stories after his death. Guyger's attorneys cited 297 articles about Guyger and Jean in their motion.

Whether potential jurors are qualified to sit on the jury isn't about whether they've heard about the shooting or even whether they know Jean or Guyger's name. To serve, jurors can't have an opinion about Guyger's guilt or innocence.

The trial is scheduled to start Sept. 23. Jury selection is slated to begin on the first anniversary of Jean's death.

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Jean lawyer says race is behind Guyger's request for moving trial

LOOP NEWS CREATED : 9 JULY 2019

Jean family lawyer Lee Merritt posted a response on Facebook to the motion that Amber Guyger's lawyers filed yesterday, requesting that her murder trial for killing Botham Jean in his own apartment would be moved to a different county.

Guyger's lawyers argued that media coverage and statements by various public officials had tainted the jury pool in Dallas County, resulting in a fair trial being impossible there.

Merritt believes that race is at the heart of why Guyger's lawyers want the change, "...let's consider why her lawyers might pursue such a change. Each of the counties offered as alternative venues have populations that are upwards 80% white and where minorities represents a small fraction of the presence they do in Dallas County. As much as they claim the case is not about race, they are eagerly vying for the case to be moved to jurisdictions where the issue of race plays heavily in their favor."

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