*The first day of former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger‘s murder trial for fatally shooting her unarmed neighbor Botham Jean in his own home more than a year ago was really interesting.
Specifically, it was a test of patience for Judge Tammy Kemp who had to deal with a couple of things that made her lose her temper on Monday.
The first thing that fired her up was finding out that Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot violated a gag order the night before the trial’s start, reports the Daily Mail.
Creuzot was seen discussing the Guyger case with a local TV news crew with fox affiliate KDFW, explaining why his office had decided to charge Guyger with murder.
Creuzot should have known better. That’s a no-no that could jeopardize the trial and you best believe the defense lawyers were all over it. In fact, Guyger’s defense attorneys informed Kemp of the situation ahead of the trial’s start while motioning for the judge to declare a mistrial.
“Oh, there was another interview last night?” Kemp asked.
“Yes your honor,” replied one of Guyger’s attorneys, leaving Kemp momentarily speechless.
The judge rolled her eyes, shook her head, and grunted as she turned in her chair to face the back wall before standing up and hunching over.
Here’s more via the Daily Mail:
After composing herself, she turned around to make sure she had heard the attorneys correctly.
‘Let me be clear,’ Kemp said, ‘last night, the evening prior to the start of this trial, our elected DA did an interview about this trial?’
Guyger’s defense attorney used the opportunity to once again raise her previous request for a change of venue, arguing the former officer could not possibly receive a fair trial in the county where virtually resident has prior knowledge of the case thanks to the local media.
The judge asked the 12 jurors and four alternate jurors individually if they had seen Creuzot’s interview. All of them confirmed they had not seen it or any media coverage on the case since they were selected.
When a prosecutor was addressing the court during the same hearing, an unidentified journalist’s laptop started blasting loud music.
‘OK. Hold a second. Wait a minute, hold on hold on. Why do you have a laptop in here?’ Kemp shouted.
‘I’m so sorry,’ the reporter replied.
‘No, I asked you why do you have a laptop in here? Are you an attorney?’ Kemp asked.
‘No ma’am,’ said the journalist.
‘Please give that laptop to the bailiff and you [bailiff] and you put it wherever you wish to put it. I’ve asked – I don’t know how [much] plainer I can make it.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ the journalist said. Seconds later, the laptop’s music started blasting again.
At that point, Judge Kemp told the bailiff the give her the laptop, which she then took with her back into her chambers before emerging again with this message:
“We’re not going to have this trial disrupted repeatedly by cell phones, laptops and computers going off,’ she said. ‘If your cell phone or laptop goes off or I see it, I am going to confiscate and keep it until this trial is concluded one way or another.”
After the judge dismissed the jury for the day, she told the prosecution, including Assistant District Attorney Jason Hermus to warn their boss, Creuzot, that the gag order issued on the court officials directly involved with Guyger’s trial applied to him as well.
As we’ve reported, Amber Guyger is a former Dallas Police Officer on trial for murder after fatally shooting her unarmed black neighbor, Botham Jean, in his own apartment a year ago.
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