Prosecutors in the murder trial for ex-Dallas cop Amber Guyger showed a jury never-before-released bodycam footage Tuesday of police running into the apartment of Black PwC associate Botham Jean after he was fatally shot.
Two Dallas police officers can be seen running through a hallway and into Jean’s apartment, where three pieces of artwork hung on a wall in his living room.
“Police,” an officer can be heard yelling while running down the hallway.
“I thought it was my apartment,” Guyger said when she saw the officer enter Jean’s unit. “I thought it was my apartment.”
“Get over there,” an officer could be heard telling Guyger.
“Can you hear me,” one officer yelled in the bodycam footage.
Another officer made a blowing sound and put on blue gloves.
“Start CPR,” someone said in the video footage.
Video did not show Guyger giving Jean CPR.
Prosecutors have argued that the former officer was not tending to Jean when officers arrived to apply CPR.
Guyger’s trial started Monday more than one year after she was accused of killing Jean one floor above her own apartment Sept. 6, 2018.
Five Black jurors, five Latino or Asian jurors and two white jurors have been seated in the trial, which is being heard by Black State District Judge Tammy Kemp, according to multiple media reports.
Guyger’s defense said in an opening statement Monday that 46 tenants in the building where Guyger and Jean lived reported going to the wrong apartment because of a confusing floor plan, according to a CBS reporter who tweeted updates about the trial.
“How is that selfish and evil on Amber Guyger’s part?” the defense asked.
The jury also heard testimony from Guyger’s police patrol partner Martin Rivera on the first day of the trial.
Jean’s family lawyer, Lee Merritt, said on Twitter Monday Rivera and Guyger exchanged text messages before, during and after Jean’s death and that some of those messages included nude photos.
“Those text were subsequently deleted,” Merritt said. “This is a crime. Destruction of evidence is a felony. Martin Rivera should not be a police officer.”
The attorney also said on Twitter Tuesday that the bodycam footage depicting Jean’s last moments “not only establish a peaceful scene of a man at home watching TV, eating ice cream but also where his body lands— directly next to his couch.”
Merritt refuted what he described as the defense’s claim that Jean charged at Guyger.
“The defense needs Botham to be charging at Guyger or else her actions are completely unreasonable,” Merritt said. “The problem is none of the evidence supports this claim.”
Evidence instead shows that during Guyger’s “frantic 911 call she was texting her partner she planned to meet later that night for sex,” Merritt said in another tweet.
“While she feigned concerned she sent text to her lover,” Merritt said.
At one point in the trial, 911 audio from the shooting was played for the jury as Guyger sat, listening.
A female dispatcher could be heard asking Guyger for her address and Guyger instead identifying herself as an “off-duty officer.”
“Can I get? I need EMS. Um. Uh….,” Guyger said, taking quick heavy breaths between her words.
The dispatcher asked if she needed police or just EMS.
“Yes, I need both,” Guyger responded.
The dispatcher again asked for her address and Guyger told her:
“I’m at apartment number 1478. I’m at 1478.”
When asked again for the address, she gave “1210 S. Lamar,” stammering.
“What’s going on,” the dispatcher asked.
“I’m an off-duty officer. I thought I was in my apartment, and I shot a guy thinking that he was, thinking it was my apartment,” Guyger said.
“You shot someone?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yes,” Guyger said. “I thought it was my apartment. I’m fucked. Oh my God. I’m sorry.”
“Where are you at right now,” the dispatcher asked. “I’m in. What do you mean? I’m inside the apartment.”
“What’s your name,” the dispatcher asked.
“I’m Amber Guyger. I need to get an…,” she said and paused, her breathing quickening.
“OK, we have help on the way,” the dispatcher said.
“I know but I’m alone…,” Guyger said, panting. “I thought it was my apartment… Fuck.”
The dispatcher continued trying to keep Guyger calm, and she said she thought it was her apartment twice.
“Hurry, please,” Guyger said.
“We’re on our way,” the dispatcher said.
Guyger repeated, “I thought it was my apartment” nine more times before the dispatcher asked what floor she was on.
“Fourth. Fourth,” she said.
When asked, Guyger also explained he was shot on the top part and that she was with Dallas PD.
“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to,” she said, crying. “I’m sorry.”
The dispatcher again assured Guyger they would get there soon, and an about 34-second pause followed, with only brief sounds of Guyger crying.
“I thought it was my apartment. I thought it was my apartment,” she said. “Oh my God. I thought it was my apartment.”
Guyger brought a tissue to her face in the courtroom.
The case has garnered so much public interest in Dallas that the defense team tried unsuccessfully to have it moved out of the county.
Related: Black Dallas Judge Denies Amber Guyger’s Attorney’s Request to Move Trial to Another County
Instead, Judge Kemp kept proceedings local and has worked to protect the integrity of the trial.
In doing so, she has already had to reprimand the press for publicizing leaked 911 audio from the incident in question, and she confiscated an unapproved laptop that sounded in the courtroom.
She even paused proceedings, worried the Dallas County District Attorney may have violated a gag order by granting a TV interview the day before the trial started.
Still, with the reported slips, Kemp advocated for an open courtroom.
“And why are the people locked out,” Kemp was shown asking in video of the trial. “This is the people’s courtroom.”
