德克萨斯州一家上诉法院正在考虑是否驳回上诉谋杀罪这位前达拉斯警官的律师周二辩称，当她意外进入错误的公寓并认为她面对的是入侵者时，她是在自卫。
盖格的一名律师正在服刑10年，他在达拉斯德克萨斯州第五区上诉法院辩称，盖格应该被判谋杀罪无罪。辩护律师迈克尔·莫瓦拉要求三名法官组成的陪审团重新审理盖格的过失杀人罪，如果他们决定不判她完全无罪的话。
莫伊拉辩称，下级法院法官没有指示陪审团认为盖格有“合理的理由相信”她开枪击中琼的胸部并杀死他时，她在自己的公寓里，这是错误的。
“我同意她确实故意开枪打了让先生，因为那是她的意图。这是事实。这就是案件的事实，”莫瓦拉说。
汤姆·福克斯/达拉斯晨报
被解雇的达拉斯警官琥珀·盖格在她的谋杀案审判中作证时变得情绪激动
但莫瓦拉援引判例法称，盖格“有权在自卫时使用致命武力，如果她走进自己的公寓，发现有入侵者。”
“根据事实，当我的委托人走进她认为是自己的公寓时，她对危险有着合理的担忧，”莫拉说。“如果我们同意她认为她走进了她的公寓，那么事实指令的错误适用。那么问题来了，她的信念，她对危险的恐惧，合理吗?”
罗比·帕蒂达-基普内斯大法官打断了莫瓦拉的话，质疑他的论点的有效性。
帕蒂达-基普内斯说:“仅仅因为她所谓的错误信仰，并不能否定她杀人的意图。”。
Mowla反驳说，“它否定了谋杀的邪恶意图”要求。
“如果她走进自己的公寓，我们就不会谈论这件事，”莫拉说。
检察官道格拉斯·格拉德登(Douglas Gladden)要求法院驳回盖格的请愿书，称“这是一起谋杀案，而不是刑事侵入案。”
“她知道博瑟姆是一个活生生的人。她用枪指着他。她打算杀了他，”格莱登告诉法官们。“那是谋杀。这不是事实错误，这是不正当的。安珀·盖格谋杀了博瑟姆·琼。这个法院应该这么说，肯定初审法院的判决。”
格拉德登说，在盖格的审判中，莫瓦拉的“事实错误”指控从未被提出。
汤姆·福克斯/路透社，文件
博瑟姆·琼的弟弟勃兰特·琼拥抱前达拉斯警官琥珀·盖格·福洛
在盖格的审判中，她的律师使用了类似的自卫论点，这被达拉斯县陪审团驳回，陪审团经过不到两天的审议，判定她犯有谋杀罪。
争论结束后，首席大法官罗伯特·彭斯告诉律师们，陪审团将对此案进行慎重考虑，“我们将在适当的时候发表我们的意见。”
盖格没有参加周二的听证会，听证会是通过Zoom在网上举行的。
琼的家人周二通过律师发表声明说，“我们强烈反对安珀·盖格的上诉和她争取减刑的努力。”
声明写道:“当安珀·盖格被判刑时，我们的家人终于找到了公正与和平的措施。”。“她的行为显然是犯罪行为:她看到一名黑人男子在自己家里被枪杀，没有任何理由和正当理由。陪审团做出了深思熟虑的公正裁决，不应被推翻。”
2018年9月6日晚上，达拉斯国际审计公司普华永道(Pricewaterhousecoopers)的会计师让(Jean)独自在公寓里吃冰淇淋，当时刚下班、仍穿着警服的盖格(Guyger)闯进他未上锁的前门，向他开火。
枪击发生后不久，她意识到她把公寓错当成了自己的，就在下面一层。
她作证说，当她进入公寓时，她看到了一个人影的轮廓，所以她拔出了她的“枪，我对他大喊大叫。”
“我被吓死了，”盖格作证说在2019年的审判中，她补充说自己的“心率飙升”
盖格在证人席上泪流满面，说:“我很抱歉。我从未想过要夺走一个无辜的人的生命。”
“我希望是他拿着枪杀了我，”她激动地说。
吉恩的哥哥布兰特·吉恩(Brandt Jean)在盖格被判刑期间出庭作证，他说他原谅了她，并问能否拥抱她，初审法官允许他这样做。
“我爱你就像爱其他任何人一样，我不希望你腐烂和死亡，”布兰特·让在宣判时告诉盖格。“我个人希望对你最好。我本不想在家人面前说这些，我甚至不想让你进监狱。我希望你得到最好的，因为我知道这正是博瑟姆希望你得到的。把你的生命交给基督。我认为把你的生命交给基督是博瑟姆希望你得到的最好的东西。”
Lawyer for former police officer Amber Guyger asks appeals court to toss her murder
A Texas appeals court is mulling whether to throw out themurder convictionof Amber Guyger for the 2018 killing of Botham Jean after the former Dallas police officer's attorney argued on Tuesday that she was acting in self-defense when she accidentally entered the wrong apartment and thought she was confronting an intruder.
An attorney for Guyger, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence, argued before the Court of Appeals in the Fifth District of Texas in Dallas that Guyger should be acquitted of murder. Defense attorney Michael Mowla asked the three-judge panel to resentence Guyger on the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide if it decides not to grant her a full acquittal.
Mowla argued that the lower court judge erred by not instructing the jury to consider that Guyger had a "reasonable belief" that she was in her apartment when she shot Jean in the chest and killed him.
"I agree she did intentionally shoot Mr. Jean because that was her intent. That was the truth. Those were the facts of the case," Mowla said.
But Mowla cited case law in arguing that Guyger would be "entitled to use deadly force in self-defense, if she had walked into her apartment and there was an intruder."
"My client, according to the facts, had a reasonable apprehension of danger when she walked into what she thought was her apartment," Mowla said. "If we agree that she thought she walked into her apartment, then the mistake of fact instruction applies. And then the question is, was her belief, was her apprehension of the danger, reasonable?"
Justice Robbie Partida-Kipness interrupted Mowla to question the validity of his argument.
"Just because of her alleged mistake in belief about where she was doesn't negate her intent to kill," Partida-Kipness said.
Mowla countered that "it negates the evil intent" requirement for murder.
"We wouldn't be talking about this if she had walked into her own apartment," Mowla said.
Prosecutor Douglas Gladden asked the court to reject Guyger's petition, arguing, "This is a murder case not a criminal trespass case."
"She knew Botham was a living human being. She pointed a gun at him. She intended to kill him," Gladden told the justices. "That's murder. It's not mistake of fact, it's not justified. Amber Guyger murdered Botham Jean. This court should say so and affirm the trial court's judgment."
Gladden said the "mistake of fact" claim by Mowla was never raised during Guyger's trial.
During Guyger's trial, her attorneys used a similar self-defense argument, which was rejected by the Dallas County jury that convicted her of murder after deliberating for less than two days.
Following the arguments, Chief Justice Robert Burns told the attorneys that the panel will take the case under advisement and "we will issue our opinion in due course."
Guyger did not attend Tuesday's hearing, which was held online via Zoom.
Jean's family issued a statement Tuesday through their attorneys, saying, "We vehemently oppose Amber Guyger’s appeal and her attempt to get a reduced sentence."
"When Amber Guyger was sentenced, our family finally found a measure of justice and peace," the statement reads. "Her actions were clearly criminal: she saw a black man and shot, without reason and without justification, murdering him in his own home. The jury delivered a thoughtful and just verdict that should not be overturned."
Jean, who was an accountant for the international auditing firm Pricewaterhousecoopers in Dallas, was in his apartment alone eating ice cream on the night of Sept. 6, 2018, when Guyger, who had just gotten off duty and was still in her police uniform, barged through his unlocked front door and opened fire on him.
Moments after the shooting, she realized she had mistaken the apartment for her own, which was one floor below.
She testified that when she entered the apartment she saw the silhouette of a figure, so she pulled her "gun out and I yelled at him."
"I was scared to death,"Guyger testifiedduring her trial in 2019, adding that her "heart rate just skyrocketed."
Guyger broke down in tears on the witness stand, saying, "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to take an innocent person's life."
"I wish he was the one with the gun that killed me," she said, overcome with emotion.
In a remarkable act of kindness, Jean's brother Brandt Jean, who took the witness stand during Guyger's sentencing, said he forgave her and asked if he could hug her, which the trial judge allowed him to do.
"I love you just like anyone else and I'm not going to hope you rot and die," Brandt Jean told Guyger during the sentencing. "I personally want the best for you. I wasn't going to say this in front of my family, I don't even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you because I know that's exactly what Botham would want for you. Give your life to Christ. I think giving your life to Christ is the best thing Botham would want for you."
