Social Justice
$98 million awarded to family of Botham Jean, man shot in his home by ex-police officer
A jury has ordered former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger to pay $98 million after it found that she used excessive force in the fatal shooting of Botham Jean in his home six years ago.
The family of Botham Jean has been awarded a hefty judgment for the killing of the unarmed Dallas accountant.
Botham Jean judgment
On Wednesday, November 20, a jury ordered former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger to pay $98 million after it found that she used excessive force in the fatal shooting of Botham Jean in his home six years ago.
The civil judgment against Guyger, 36, comes five years after she was convicted of murder in the 2018 killing of Jean and sentenced to a decade in prison.
The jury found that Guyger acted with “malice, willfulness, or callous and reckless indifference” to Jean’s safety and rights and awarded his family $60 million in punitive damages, CBS News reports.
An additional $38 million was awarded in compensatory damages for mental anguish, loss of earnings and other claims, the document shows.
Guyger reportedly did not attend the three-day trial, nor did she have a lawyer present, according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth. The attorney who represented her in her criminal trial told the station that she didn’t have the money to hire a lawyer.
Jean’s family had sought $54 million in damages, according to NBC Dallas Fort-Worth.
Incident
Jean, 26, was in his apartment, eating ice cream on Sept. 6, 2018, when Guyger, who lived on the floor above him, walked into his apartment, thinking it was her own. Guyger, who was off duty but in uniform, said she believed Jean was an intruder and shot him.
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