Maybe, but it also helps get a conviction for murder if you think that’s what the DA really wants. I’m not sure that’s true, but it’s at least the stated aim of the State. I’m not sure they didn’t deliberately overcharge her hyoping she’d be acquitted. Originally Posted by TexTushHog
I’m not sure they didn’t deliberately overcharge her hyoping she’d be acquitted. Originally Posted by TexTushHog
Overcharged with murder in hopes of being acquitted. Yes that’s what I tend to believe. Originally Posted by FunMondayI wondered that myself. in regards to that possibility, what amount of leverage does the State have, concerning a reduction to Manslaughter or criminal negligence?
The defense rested its case on Monday morning in the murder trial of Amber Guyger, and the prosecution chose not to call any rebuttal witnesses.Waiting for the jury to come back with a verdict.
Prior to each side delivering their closing arguments, Judge Tammy Kemp read the charges to the jury.
The state finished its final statements just before 1 p.m. and the jury was dismissed before lunch before beginning deliberation.
The jury is considering whether Guyger is guilty of murder, a lesser crime of manslaughter, or if she is not guilty.
The jury and four alternates are sequestered for the duration of the trial.
The implication, one that Hermus (the Assistant DA) has been trying to make for days, is that even if one concedes that Guyger’s belief that she was in her apartment, not Jean’s, at the time of the shooting was reasonable, her decision to shoot Jean wasn’t reasonable.
There’s a problem with this argument, according to legal experts. Texas law gives anyone who shoots someone in the shooter’s habitation — or, in this case, what the shooter believes to be his or her habitation — the benefit of the doubt. The shooter is presumed to have acted believing his or her life was in danger. They don’t have to prove it.
"It's absolute," Dallas criminal defense attorney Pete Schulte told the Observer earlier this week. "If she was in her occupied habitation, it's an acquittal."
what were the jury instructions? can they find for less than murder? Originally Posted by Chung Tran
The jury is considering whether Guyger is guilty of murder, a lesser crime of manslaughter, or if she is not guilty.point of order..
all 12 members of the Jury must agree on the same verdict.
It has to be UNANIMOUS
If they can't agree unanimously, then it's a hung jury. Originally Posted by CG2014