TX - Botham Shem Jean, 26, killed when police officer entered his apartment, Dallas, Sept 2018 #3

[TinaG]

That's correct, all you have to say to be excused from any jury duty if selected to be interviewed is that you are familiar with the case and give a simple example supporting your statement. Or another way is to start forming opinions before even hearing the trial.

Like for an example, my friends and I were talking about this case at the health club, or on FB, or at the senior center during lunch.

I would surely be excused, they would figure out in short order that I probably wouldn't have trusted her before this happened! I was already jaded.

 

[VAgirlatheart]

It was reported last week that a grand jury will be convening today.

According to local elected officials in Dallas, the Rangers have no more interest in the case. Public outrage putting on pressure seems to be what motivated DPD to "step up" days later starting their own investigation and were told by the Rangers early on not to file any charges.

DPD was going to file charges quickly after and Dallas' 14th District Rep stated division existed amongst the department as to if Manslaughter or Murder. The judge purportedly refused to sign the Manslaughter arrest warrant saying that was not the crime they were describing although he would sign a murder warrant.

It is unclear exactly when DPD dropped control of the case and Rangers took it. You are much more benevolent than I about trusting either of the two entities in this case. How it has been handled is absurd and LEO does a very good job of making convoluted messes nearly impossible to untangle if they are with an agenda, which appears geared towards protecting this girl.

That's the exact story I heard as well. I think they have broke plenty of protocol and frankly, it's truly upsetting. I may not have the experience to back me but I'm telling you from my point of view and everything I have learned in school (again, freshly graduated w/my bachelors degree in criminal justice with a concentration in criminal investigations) the way this case was handled from the very beginning was awful. I do agree with DPD stepping back from the case due to it being one of thier employees but in reality, did they really? And when they did step in, it made it worse, in my opinion. I understand that this is open investigation and they can't release much information but personally, the information they put out was to make it seem like this was a mistake and that she's not the bad one. Think about it. The information we have received about this case, is her warrant affidavit explaining the situation - which the more I look at it, the more it makes it seem like it's written to protect her. Statements like "both apartments are nearly identical" and that she gave him "verbal" commands which I understand is information that's has to be in there but it rubs me the wrong way. The next piece of information was the search warrant which contradicted the first statement but wouldn't you know, they released the search warrant to the public which stated the marijuana that was found. And the last piece of information we got was a beautiful video that had her wiping her eyes and looking sad at the jailhouse. Why in the hell do we want to see that, it has nothing to do with nothing. They just want her to come off as a innocent little angel who made a huge mistake. But I'm not buying it. Why is so much of the information contradicting its self? I'm telling you, where is the 911 tape that we usually hear? They realease it in other places all the time before trial. Surely if you tell me how it all went down in affidavit, then why can't we hear the 911 call? I'll tell you why. They are giving the public enough information to some what satisfy the needs of transparency. There's a reason we haven't heard it. I can almost bet.

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

You'd be surprised how many times just that won't move the judge to dismiss you as the judge may perform curative testing to determine if you have bias.

Now coming out and saying, 'the defendant is clearly innocent, or guilty', would tend to result in your being dismissed by the court and not count against either sides limited number of challenges.

Just having taken notice of the media onslaught does not equate to bias for or against the defendant. If that were the case, it would be unlikely a clean jury could be impaneled for her trial anywhere in the United States.

That's correct, all you have to say to be excused from any jury duty if selected to be interviewed is that you are familiar with the case and give a simple example supporting your statement. Or another way is to start forming opinions before even hearing the trial.

Like for an example, my friends and I were talking about this case at the health club, or on FB, or at the senior center during lunch.

 

[VAgirlatheart]

If the grand jury decides not to move forward with charges after the fact that she walked into his house and shot him regardless on recklessness or intentionally.. my heart would be shattered and I'm not sure how the dallas or the whole country will handle it. I can't imagine, who outraged everyone will be. The thought of it just made me whole entire body hot

 

[VAgirlatheart]

Did anyone catch how many floors this complex has?

 

[La1959]

Did anyone catch how many floors this complex has?

There are four floors

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

"He" posted referencing a Dallas Morning News article, no link to it, naming a reporter that could not be found to exist. The content was reasonably deemed to be unfounded propaganda and subject to the same determination even had it been real.

We're not supposed to sleuth members.

 

[TinaG]

That's the exact story I heard as well. I think they have broke plenty of protocol and frankly, it's truly upsetting. I may not have the experience to back me but I'm telling you from my point of view and everything I have learned in school (again, freshly graduated w/my bachelors degree in criminal justice with a concentration in criminal investigations) the way this case was handled from the very beginning was awful. I do agree with DPD stepping back from the case due to it being one of thier employees but in reality, did they really? And when they did step in, it made it worse, in my opinion. I understand that this is open investigation and they can't release much information but personally, the information they put out was to make it seem like this was a mistake and that she's not the bad one. Think about it. The information we have received about this case, is her warrant affidavit explaining the situation - which the more I look at it, the more it makes it seem like it's written to protect her. Statements like "both apartments are nearly identical" and that she gave him "verbal" commands which I understand is information that's has to be in there but it rubs me the wrong way. The next piece of information was the search warrant which contradicted the first statement but wouldn't you know, they released the search warrant to the public which stated the marijuana that was found. And the last piece of information we got was a beautiful video that had her wiping her eyes and looking sad at the jailhouse. Why in the hell do we want to see that, it has nothing to do with nothing. They just want her to come off as a innocent little angel who made a huge mistake. But I'm not buying it. Why is so much of the information contradicting its self? I'm telling you, where is the 911 tape that we usually hear? They realease it in other places all the time before trial. Surely if you tell me how it all went down in affidavit, then why can't we hear the 911 call? I'll tell you why. They are giving the public enough information to some what satisfy the needs of transparency. There's a reason we haven't heard it. I can almost bet.

Thank you, good points. It's good to have the perspective of someone with your education.

 

[flourish]

"He" posted referencing a Dallas Morning News article, no link to it, naming a reporter that could not be found to exist. The content was reasonably deemed to be unfounded propaganda and subject to the same determination even had it been real.

Yep and we should report whenever a poster states things as fact but refuses to provide a source. I've noted some who make lots of statements as fact but as far as I've seen, have never, not once, provided a link, even when asked repeatedly. Report button can be your friend even if posts aren't removed it makes the mods aware.

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

The grand jury could decline signing a True Bill on the current arrest charge opting for a lesser or NO charge OR a more serious charge IF the DA wants that and vigorously shows probable cause for it.

The DA could sandbag and not even present evidence sufficient to find probable cause on the current charge.

You cannot be prosecuted on a felony charge in the USA without a grand jury indicting you. When people intitially go to court on felony charges upon simply being arrested, you are typically are given the option to waive binding it over to the grand jury while defense tries to work out a deal.

Once indicted, the level of jeopary increases and the cost of defense does too.

She has been formally charged which is not the same as a grand jury handing down a True Bill.

If the grand jury decides not to move forward with charges after the fact that she walked into his house and shot him regardless on recklessness or intentionally.. my heart would be shattered and I'm not sure how the dallas or the whole country will handle it. I can't imagine, who outraged everyone will be. The thought of it just made me whole entire body hot

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

Know this, double jeopardy does not apply to grand jury proceedings. This means the DA has the fear and awe inspiring powerful discretion to present the same charges against the same person before the same or a different grand jury panel, and as many times as the DA desires.

IF the DA wants her indicted for murder, or even to be prosecuted on a lesser charge than manslaughter, that is most likely what will happen in the grand Rubber Stamp process so, try not think the GJ is something it isn't.

If the grand jury decides not to move forward with charges after the fact that she walked into his house and shot him regardless on recklessness or intentionally.. my heart would be shattered and I'm not sure how the dallas or the whole country will handle it. I can't imagine, who outraged everyone will be. The thought of it just made me whole entire body hot

 

[Rocco]

Is the Grand Jury meeting today as reported?

 

[TinaG]

How do I ask a MOD a question that has nothing to do with this discussion

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

How do I ask a MOD a question?

The column on your right should show which staff are online right now (Tricia and Darling136 presently) - from their profiles you can start a conversation or ask a question. You can also ask it here and then REPORT (blue link at the bottom of your post) your own post - less useful if what you want to ask shouldn't be asked in a thread . Hope that helps!

 

[TinaG]

The column on your right should show which staff are online right now (Tricia and Darling136 presently) - from their profiles you can start a conversation or ask a question. You can also ask it here and then REPORT (blue link at the bottom of your post) your own post - less useful if what you want to ask shouldn't be asked in a thread . Hope that helps!

Thank you

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

What are the odds that on that night his door closing mechanism failed?

Just an FYI about the self closing hinges - not in any way saying it was or wasn't open - but I am a hotel manager and we use a similar hinge - which we are currently in the process of changing them all out by the way. These hinges are great when they work properly but they are usually spring loaded and require proper adjustments to do so. Sometimes they are too tight and will cause the door to "slam" shut with a loud bang and sometimes they are too loose and won't close the door all the way. For most hotels that can create a security risk because the lock engages when the door is shut and guests don't often check the door to make sure it is shut because they expect it to work properly. I wouldn't think this would be the case here since the lock does not automatically engage as a hotel lock typically does and BJ's family has stated that it was his pattern to lock his door - just wanted to point out that though the vids from other tenants show the self closing hinges shutting their doors, it is possible that one or more in the complex might not be working properly so until someone shows a vid of that specific door closing on it's on, we really cannot conclude that it did or that it could not have been ajar from the vids we have seen.

 

[VAgirlatheart]

Okay so lets debate .. Well not actually debate but put our thinking caps on. She parks in the garage on the wrong floor according to her but I really don't understand how she could have done that .. I believe there are 4 floors. The 4th floor would be the last parking deck until you hit the very top. Furthermore, it has a little clubhouse/rooftop deck on there that I am sure people love to go up there, so she didn't hear them either? Maybe there wasn't anyone up there but you want me to believe that she really parked on the wrong floor that only has 4 floors. Please correct me if I am wrong but huge shoutout to google for being not only reliable in my college years but for being a loyal companion in life Here are some pictures. Based on the video where the girl posted AG and the EMTs I truly believe that the one circled - top is BJ apartment circled, bottom is her more than likely and the red circle I feel like was the neighbors that recorded her in the hall. Let me know if ya'll think different but I'm willing to bet thats where it located based off of the fact that I did a whole 360 around the apartments on google map and thats the only place that it is set up like that .. let me point out i don't know which side his and her apartments are but I am willing to bet based off of video, those are the floors and possible places. The stairs are just random - I just wanted to show you what they look like.They aren't his that I am aware of.. and I clearly took a picture from google so I had to make sure she was marked out. lol

What do yall think now, that you've seen the pictures?

 

[btfly547]

There are four floors

Hadn't thought about that but that's interesting. Usually in parking garages, the last floor has a definitely different layout than all the other floors. Meaning it just doesn't keep circling around like all the others - it has a stopping point somewhere. Another clue that she was on the wrong floor. I would love to know where she parked at on that floor.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

del

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[imstilla.grandma]

“What type of country do we live in when peaceful protesters get more jail time than a woman who guns down a man in his own home? This is America in 2018.

There have been protests in Dallas over police officer Amber Guyger shooting and killing 26-year-old Botham Shem Jean on September 6. Now, as of Monday morning, nine protesters have been in jail for 15 hours and Dallas police refuse to release them.”

Protesters For Botham Jean Spent More Time In Jail Than Amber Guyger