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Trial begins for ex-Dallas cop who shot neighbor in his home

Posted at 6:00 AM, Sep 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-23 08:00:33-04

DALLAS (AP) — Opening statements are set to begin in the murder trial of a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in his Dallas apartment

Amber Guyger is expected in a Dallas court Monday morning, where she will stand trial for the killing of 26-year-old Botham Jean last year.

The case has attracted intense national scrutiny for its strange circumstances and as one in a chain of shootings of black men by white police officers. Guyger was fired after Jean's death.

Lawyers for Guyger are likely to argue she fired in self-defense based on the mistaken belief that she was in her own apartment and Jean was a burglar.

A jury will decide whether 31-year-old Guyger committed murder, a lesser offense such as manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide, or no crime at all.