Wrong apartment cop is arrested for manslaughter with bail set at an outrageous $300,000
$300,000 bail? That was the amount of bail set for Dallas police officer Amber Guyer who was arrested Sunday for manslaughter in the killing of Botham Jean when she mistook his apartment for her own. She was booked into the Kaufman County jail by the Texas Rangers who made the arrest.
Manslaughter is a serious charge, but $300,000 bail? Come on, was she that serious a risk of fleeing? I seriously doubt it. That amount of bail is what is set for a murderer who is deemed a serious flight risk or for a killer with an extensive criminal record, not for a cop who is very likely to meet all court appearances.
Jean’s family is complaining that Guyer was treated with favoritism by not being arrested at the scene of the shooting. The black community is outraged because a white cop shot another black man.
In this case $300,000 bail is not excessive, it’s outrageous! The bail amount was probably set so high in order to show the black community that Guyer is not being shown any favoritism.
Guyer made bail and was released from jail. Where did she get the money? She lived in an apartment and the only property she owned was a car on which she was probably still making payments. And it is most unlikely that Guyer had enough money for her bail in a savings account. Her attorney probably paid the $30,000+ needed to satisfy the bond.
Meanwhile Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson announced that the charge against Guyer could be changed from manslaughter to murder. That should satisfy the black community.
4 comments:
$300, 000 is not considered an unreasonable bail in a rural county. A local Justice of the Peace sets the bail at whatever he wants. It is not unusual for a JP to set a higher bail than the recommended bail asked for by the DA. In a county of this size I doubt if there is even a DA intake.
If my memory serves me well, Kaufman County has had some unpleasant history with a sitting District Attorney and his wife murdered in 2013 along with an assistant DA killed on the courthouse steps. The Aryan Brotherhood was blamed and a massive search and roundup was made of it's members. It turns out that a local Justice of the Peace and his wife killed both men. The JP had been prosecuted for stealing county equipment and really didn't like that.
A little more info has come out on this. The cop had just finished a 15 hour shift. The apartment building is odd in that there is a multi-story parking structure that corresponds to the apartment building. If you live on three, you park on three. If you live on four, you park on four. She was parked on the wrong floor. That COULD explain why she went to the wrong door. The apartment was allegedly dark, relatively speaking. Oddly, the dead guy had a red welcome mat and a couple of plants outside his door which I suspect the cop did not, but that is just a suspicion on my part. My opinion, for what that may be worth, is this is moving further from a substance abuse issue and more towards a tired cop, dark apartment and visit from the fuck-up fairy. Drug test results have not been released yet. The case is going to a grand jury.
FURTHER: The officer asserts that when the put her key in the lock the door was unlocked and opened. The apartment was dark inside, she saw somebody in what she believed to be her apartment and shot him. When she turned on the lights she then realized she was not in her apartment. Assuming the drug and alcohol tests come back clean this is looking better, or at least less bad, for the cop.
In an unrelated story:
GREAT NEWS: State Board signals it will keep the reference to ‘heroic’ Alamo defenders in Texas history curriculum. They died fighting for Texas independence. That is the epitome of heroic. Thanks to all Texas patriots who weighed in.
Greg Abbott
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