Judge Tammy Kemp Cancels Day Of Testimony In Amber Guyger Murder Trial
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — The judge presiding over the Amber Guyger murder trial suddenly canceled what was supposed to be a full day of testimony Saturday.
Judge Tammy Kemp recessed the jury and both sides until 9:30 a.m. Monday morning. Testimony was originally planned for Saturday since jurors have been sequestered during the trial.
Guyger faces five-to-99 years in prison if found guilty for the murder of then 26-year-old Botham Jean, who she shot and killed in his apartment, thinking it was her own, last September.
Before the dismissal around 11 a.m. Sept. 28, Kemp had just approved an expert witness who testified earlier outside the presence of the jury that Guyger experienced what's called "in-attentional blindness."
"It's the tendency of the human brain to filter out visual images that are not relevant to the primary target," former DISD Police Chief Craig Miller said.
However, Kemp would not allow Miller to testify his belief that Guyger's actions were reasonable based on her state of mind the night of the shooting. She also denied a defense request for Texas Ranger David Armstrong to offer a similar testimony.
Criminal Defense Attorney and Former Dallas County Prosecutor Pete Schulte has worked on both sides of the legal system and believes the testimony should have been allowed.
"With the rulings she made yesterday and today... she [Kemp] is coming across as not being fair to both sides," Schulte said. "It's shocking to me that some of the information that they're trying to put in front of the jury as experts is being excluded by the court. I think it's a mistake, I think that it potentially is showing some bias against the defense and for the state."
Schulte believes it's possible the defense could rest its case on Monday based on the rulings, meaning their case hinges on the credibility of Guyger — who tearfully testified yesterday that she made a terrible mistake after entering Jean's apartment thinking it was hers.
