DPD Chief Hall Comments After Grand Jury 'No Bills' Police Association Pres Of Tampering In Amber Guyger Case
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas Police Chief Reneé Hall issued a statement the day after a grand jury decided not to indict Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata for tampering with evidence in the Botham Jean murder investigation.
In a statement released Wednesday morning Chief Hall said:
"After a year-long investigation, the Grand Jury rendered a decision on this matter.
Following Amber Guyger's murder trial, DPD's Public Integrity Unit conducted a thorough and exhaustive investigation into the events that occurred the night Botham Jean died. The community deserved answers to questions raised during the trial. We delivered all the information from our investigation to the District Attorney's office. The final decision lies with the Grand Jury."
During the Amber Guyger murder trial, prosecutors used security camera video to suggest the Dallas Police Association acted improperly when Mata arrived on the scene after the shooting.
Once at the South Side Flats apartments, Mata asked that a dash cam be turned off while talking to then-Officer Amber Guyger in a patrol car. He leaned into the vehicle that Guyger was sitting in the back of and told another officer to turn off a dash cam while Guyger was on the phone with her attorney.
Guyger was later convicted of murder for the 2018 death of Jean, her neighbor, who she shot in his own apartment. From her initial call to 911 and throughout her trial Guyger claimed she thought she had entered her own apartment and that she opened fire on Jean thinking he was a burglar.
Chief Hall closed her statement saying:
"I am prayerful that the Botham Jean family, our police officers and our City can now unite, find closure and work together to become the nation's model for policing that reflects community partnerships, trust and legitimacy."