no, she used it because her key didn't work.

Accident or no she still took a man's life and should pay for it. Personally I'd like to see her do about 15 years in the pen but they probably wont give her that many. I think she was a little too quick on the trigger but it's always easy to second guess these type things.

I have been praying for peace over our LEO in Dallas. I can't see her being convicted of murder. Manslaughter might have been a charge they could get a verdict on but murder involves intent and some level of premeditation. When that not guilty is rendered, as I think will happen, parts of Dallas will erupt.

Again, praying for peace and will continue to.

pretty sure they can convict her of manslaughter.

Criminally negligent homicide or not guilty of anything is my prediction.

Who said she should be punished more severely than a civilian?

Why should she get sentenced to 15 years as has been suggested when thugs shoot other thugs in Dallas every day and get sentenced to 4 to 7 years if at all and get out in less than half that time if they are?

I just hope that her defense attorney belongs to the same Country Club as the judge.

So let me get this right on this whole mistake of fact thing:

- so if I see a guy running out of a bank while the alarm is going off and I shoot and kill the guy (I obviously thought he was the robber, so it is a mistake of fact), I go free?

- if I go over to the neighbor's house because the door is cracked open and the neighbor's brother is standing there (but I know the neighbor is out of town on vacation) and I decide to take down that intruder/brother, I go free, because it was a mistake of fact?

- I see a guy running down the street and hear an old lady yelling "purse thief" so I run him down with the car and he turns out to be the person who was pursuing the purse thief, I go free?

If so, I know I need to be a lot more aggressive with my use of deadly force and ignore all the things I learned in LTC and related training.

Thugs shooting other thugs should collect a bounty.

I remember them stating she noticed the door was ajar after her key not working several times. Was that not the case?

I find it a very odd...loophole, for lack of a better term, but I don’t know enough about it.

The way I’m reading it, it sounds like a get out of jail free card when mistakes are made.

Does it apply to anyone, or just those with a badge?

Seems that way. My Grandad retired from DPD in '79 after a 30 year career. If he was alive today, he would agree.

^^Exactly

Last summer, we got our azzes handed to us on shift. 24 hours, straight call after call. By shift change at 0700 all of us were smoked. I went to QT to put DEF in my truck. About 1.5 gallons in, I realized I was putting it in the fuel neck. That's a whole other story. Point being my head wasn't right, due to mental exhaustion.

Amber went to her complex, floor after floor looks the same. She walked the hall to what she thought was her apartment. Put the key in the door and the door opens. She goes in thinking an intruder is in HER apartment. She clears holster, gives commands, they were not followed, her domicile she thought, guy gets shot.

Then, she calls dispatch, identifies herself and asks for FD. On the phone she is telling dispatch she messed up thinking it was her apartment. She is talking to him "I'm so sorry, stay with me, they are coming."

NOT MURDER! A tragic mistake.

The court put murder on her to appease a group of people, nothing more.

Generally the mistake of fact has to be reasonable, which as you know means that an objective standard (reasonable person), rather than a subjective standard, would apply. So, your specific mindset (in your examples above) really wouldn't matter unless they are also objectively reasonable. In your first example, it would probably be difficult to make the argument that you would be acting reasonably based on the very limited information you provided. If the person you shoot and kill ran out of the bank with a rifle and several bags of cash, maybe so. I think we would also need to know more facts to assess the reasonableness of your "actions" in your other scenarios. For instance, was the guy you thought was a purse thief carrying a purse? A judge or jury would consider all those types of things in your scenarios just like the jury will likely consider what some might consider minutiae in determining whether or not Guyger made a mistake of fact and, if she did, whether or not it was a reasonable mistake.

There has been a gag order in place in this case for a while. I suspect quite a bit of information will be revealed that was not available to the public. I tend to withhold judgment on things like this until more information is available. However, from what I have seen and heard, it certainly appears to be a tragic mistake. Assuming the jury agrees, I think the question will be whether or not Guyger's mistake(s) of fact was reasonable, applying an objective, reasonable person standard.

Gives commands.
...
.roflmao.

Give me commands in my own house. Nope

Man she F ed up. She needs to pay.

She thought she was in HER apartment. I've given commands with a pistol pointed at him IN MY OWN YARD. He followed them, he didn't get shot.

Repeat, she thought it was her domicile. She is absolutely going to gice commands, as would anyone on this forum.

Big bright orange doormat in front of the door. She didn't have a bright orange door mat. She never should have pulled the trigger. Period. Guilty as sin. Give her the maximum.

Simmer down fireman

Police do F up. And should pay

Makes people trust the system and they haven't for decades

I'm making this as generic as I can because it's a true story. Undercover Narcotics Officers make a street level dope buy from a pocket dealer. The arrest team officers are wearing police marked raid vests and nomex masks to shield their identity from criminals they encounter. A foot pursuit ensues and the bad guy is chased into a convenience store. The store clerk sees the undercover officer wearing a mask chasing this guy, but doesn't notice the police vest, because he has tunnel vision from being in the situation. The store clerk shoots the officer who is now paralyzed for life. The grand jury found the shooting was an accident and no criminal conduct occurred. the store clerk was not prosecuted because he made a mistake of fact. He believed he was being robbed and was protecting himself. People aren't prosecuted because of mistake of fact from time to time. It isn't super common but it is in the penal code for a reason.

Maybe if he had a ladder he could have escaped the scared woman.

It applies to any person in the state of Texas.