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There are really only two relevant questions in this case of Amber Guyger shooting and killing Botham Jean.

First, if she had been entering her own apartment and found Jean unlawfully present, would her shooting of him have been lawful?

If not, she ought to be criminally liable for killing Jean.

If so, the second question is, was her mistake in entering the wrong apartment, believing it to be her own, a reasonable mistake?

If not, she again ought to be criminally liable for killing Jean.

If the answer to both questions is in the affirmative, however, what we have here is a tragic “awful but lawful” shooting in self-defense. Defenders are not required to make perfect decisions in self-defense, they are merely required to make reasonable decisions, and the reasonably mistaken killing of an innocent person is simply not a crime. (It may, of course, still carry civil liability, but that’s a separate matter.)

spectre wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 3:01 pm

ELB wrote: ↑Fri Sep 07, 2018 10:17 am Man that is not good. If that happened as first reported, she was eligible to be legally shot by the resident.

Unless the door was wide open, the killer unlawfully and with force entered the victim's occupied habitation. Deadly force is presumed justified against the armed intruder.

However, if the victim had shot her, and he survived, does anybody really think he would be treated as gently by the so called justice system as she is being treated?

Guyger, who was still in uniform, put her key in the door, which was unlocked, and the door opened, the official said. The lights were out. She saw a figure in the darkness and thought her apartment was being burglarized, the official said. Guyger pulled her gun and fired twice.

When she turned on the lights, she realized she was in the wrong apartment. Jean, who worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers, was shot once in the chest.