Harding University and Kaufman County
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State District Judge Tammy Kemp pushed attorneys from both sides of the Botham Jean case about the release of the 911 call made by former Dallas cop Amber Guyger shortly after she shot and killed Jean on Sept. 6. Kemp, who’s issued a gag order in the case, said that she was “dismayed to find out the 911 call had been leaked to the media,” according to reporters in the courtroom for Guyger’s first appearance in front of the judge.
Dallas County prosecutors and Guyger’s defense team told Kemp that they weren’t behind the release of the 911 tape. No one they talked to about the leaked tape admitted releasing it either, they said.
Guyger shot Jean in his apartment late on a Thursday night. She told a 911 operator that she entered the 26-year-old’s apartment believing it was her own, saw Jean, believed he’d broken in, and shot him. A Dallas County grand jury indicted Guyger on murder charges in November.
“(P)eople are leaking this type of information now, a couple of months before the trial, for the mere purpose of trying to taint the jury pool.” — Daryl Washington
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An attorney representing Jean’s family told reporters after Thursday’s hearing that they believe the 911 tape was leaked in order to influence potential jurors in the case.
“We want this case to be tried in Dallas County,” Daryl Washington said. “The frustrating part right now is, we feel that strategically, people are leaking this type of information now, a couple of months before the trial, for the mere purpose of trying to taint the jury pool.”
Both sides agreed with Kemp to set the first day of jury selection in the case for Sept. 6, the one-year mark since the shooting. Testimony in the case is set to begin on Sept. 23, barring a delay.
