(CBS) - The former Dallas police officer standing trial for murder in the shooting death of her neighbor broke down in tears as she testified in her own defense Friday morning. Amber Guyger began crying and trembling as she recalled approaching her neighbor Botham Jean's door before fatally shooting him.
Guyger, who is white, was returning home from a 13-and-a-half hour shift and was off duty but still in uniform when she shot Jean, a St. Lucia native who was black and worked as an accountant. Guyger was later fired and charged with murder.
Her testimony in court Friday marked the first time the public has heard directly from the 31-year-old former officer about her account of events.
Taking the stand just before 9 a.m., Guyger admitted she had exchanged explicit texts with her Dallas police partner, Martin Rivera, earlier the day she shot Jean. She said she was on the phone with Rivera when she drove to what she said she believed was the third floor of her apartment building's garage and parked. Guyger had actually parked on the building's fourth floor, where Jean lived directly above her. She testified the levels of the parking garage were not clearly marked.
Guyger denied that she had plans to meet Rivera at her apartment that night, as the prosecution had suggested in opening arguments. She said Rivera had never been to her apartment. Rivera, she said, typically called her, but she never called him because "I knew it was wrong and I never knew where he was."
When a defense attorney asked whether Rivera was married, she replied, "Yes."
When court resumed, Guyger appeared composed. She testified that she returned to what she thought was her own apartment to find the door ajar and heard "shuffling," and felt "pure fear" because she thought an intruder was inside. She said she opened the door and saw a "silhouette" approaching her. She said she yelled, "Show me your hands" twice and opened fire because the figure was "coming at me" and she couldn't see his hands.
"I was scared he was going to kill me," Guyger said.
Prosecutors have argued Guyger never faced a threat from Jean, who was sitting on his couch eating a bowl of ice cream when Guyger entered. Hermus honed in on Guyger's assertion that she was scared during the encounter, asking her if she could imagine the fear Jean must have felt. Hermus emphasized that Guyger could have chosen to take cover rather than opening fire.
Prosecutors have also asserted that Guyger should have done more to try and help Jean after she shot him, but was more concerned about herself, repeatedly telling a 911 operator she was going to lose her job. Guyger said she tried to help Jean by doing chest compressions and performing a "sternum rub" to try to keep him conscious.
Then, with the jury out of the courtroom, the prosecution and defense wrangled over what kind of testimony would be allowed from Texas Ranger Sargeant David Armstrong, the lead investigator on the case. The judge ruled that Armstrong could tell the jury in general about what kinds of physical sensations a police officer might experience when confronting a deadly threat, but could not opine about the reasonableness of Guyger's actions.
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