Botham Jean's family suing Amber Guyger for millions
DALLAS - A civil trial for former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who was convicted of killing Botham Jean in 2018, got underway on Monday.
Guyger is still serving a 10-year murder sentence for killing Jean inside his fourth floor apartment at Southside Flats, where she also lived. She claimed she thought he was an intruder in her third floor apartment.
She will not appear in court and doesn’t have legal representation – both at her request.
Jean’s family is seeking "unliquidated damages" for his wrongful death. If they win, they could get money from any Guyger book or movie deal.
Testimony begins
Botham Jean's family's attorneys want the jurors to know the person, know his potential, and know the pain his family has been living with since his death.
Pictures and video of him were played for jurors during opening statements, and his sister Alissa Charles-Findley painted a picture of the 26-year-old and the impact he was making.
Charles-Findley testified when Dallas police called her they only told her Jean had been shot and that it was "a sensitive situation." It was hospital personnel who told her that her brother was dead.
"[The] Texas Ranger said he could not tell us what happened and would not give them the name of the officer. But he gave us his opinion. He thought it was a horrible accident and no one was at fault," she testified.
She fought back tears when she recalled speaking to her brother just hours before his death.
"A friend invited him to a sports bar to watch the first game of the NFL season. And I said, ‘Why not stay home because it’s safer at home,'" she testified.
Some of the testimony on Monday was through depositions taken previously. One attorney asked questions, and another attorney read the answers from the depositions as though they were that person.
A law enforcement expert from Tennessee testified via Zoom that Guyger was operating in her capacity as a Dallas police officer and that she did not follow her training or the department's national guidelines for use of deadly force.
Jury selected in Amber Guyger civil lawsuit
Guyger does not have legal representation in the suit and won't be in the courtroom at her request. The trial is expected to last three days.
"I think that the plaintiffs, that the Botham Jean family attorneys have done an excellent job of painting the picture of who he was, of his promise and potential not only in the city of Dallas but across this nation. Just talking about the future impact his life would have had on the world, and it really has been I think an emotional day for the family. I've seen the jury even seem to show some emotion there," said Tiffinni Young, a lawyer and trial observer.
That emotion continued as jurors saw body camera video of police officers in Jean's apartment trying to keep him breathing and save his life. He was shot through the heart.
"It's hard for us as attorneys to watch these videos to see a young man that had the entire world before him taking his last breaths. So we can imagine how hard it is for the jury. We've had the opportunity to see these videos a couple of times. But for the jurors, this is their very first time," said Daryl Washington, the Jean family's attorney.
Civil trial reopens old wounds
Allison Jean talks to reporters after a jury is selected for the civil trial against Amber Guyger.
FOX 4 spoke to Jean’s mother about a week and a half ago when the jury was seated. She said the trial feels like opening old wounds. But she said she’s ready for it to be over.
"Ever since this continues, it’s still unfinished business," Allison Jean said. "It's uncovering old wounds, but I'm looking forward to the conclusion."
"If a jury comes back favorable, I think it sends a message. It sends a message to other officers that you need to think a second before you pull the trigger and that's what these cases are all about," Washington said.
The civil trial is expected to last three days.