Supreme Court denies Amber Guyger’s appeal in Botham Jean’s murder

The Supreme Court has denied former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger’s appeal over her murder conviction in the fatal shooting of Botham Jean in 2018, according to a ruling Monday.

Amber Guyger’s appeal denied by the Supreme Court

Guyger’s attorneys had argued in a petition for writ of certiorari that Guyger’s “rights to due process were violated” over a lower court’s interpretation of Guyger’s self-defense and mistake-of-fact claims in the fatal shooting.

The Supreme Court did not issue an opinion in the ruling. Guyger’s proceeding page on the case, however, included an update that the petition had been officially denied.

In March, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to hear Guyger’s petition to review a lower court’s decision to uphold her conviction and sentence.

While the court has the finale appellate jurisdiction in Texas criminal cases, Guyger appealed to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to have a lower court review her case.

The Supreme Court denied the petition.

Botham Jean was fatally shot in his own apartment

Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the shooting death of Jean while in his apartment in September 2018. The 34-year-old said she entered Jean’s apartment, thinking it was her own, before fatally shooting him. Guyger lived on the floor below Jean at the South Side Flats apartments.

Guyger is serving her sentence at a state prison in Gatesville. Her projected release date is 2029, and she will be eligible for parole in 2024.