Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Cop Convicted of Gunning Down 26-year-old Inside Own Apartment Order to Pay 100 Million Dollars to Family

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Cop Convicted of Gunning Down 26-year-old Inside Own Apartment Order to Pay 100 Million Dollars to Family · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:00
Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A man comes home after
0:07
Speaker 1: Workie's sitting on his own sofa eating ice cream with
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Speaker 1: a TV on when he is shot dead by a
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Speaker 1: Dallas police officer. That officer, Amber Geiger, who had the
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Speaker 1: defense that she thought she was entering her apartment okay
0:28
Speaker 1: and thought the guy sitting on the sofa eating ice
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Speaker 1: cream was an intruder. In the last days, former Dallas
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Speaker 1: police officer Amber Geiger ordered to pay nearly one hundred
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Speaker 1: million dollars to the family of the victim. Remember Geiger
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Speaker 1: convicted six years ago of killing the unarmed victim in
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Speaker 1: his own apartment. She told authorities she thought Botham's apartment
1:02
Speaker 1: was hers. Her own BODYCM was not recording during the
1:07
Speaker 1: shooting because she had just gotten off work, but she
1:10
Speaker 1: still had her police issue revolver, was issuing orders and
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Speaker 1: commands and responding on her shoulder device, and was wearing
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Speaker 1: her uniform. She appealed the conviction but lost the appeal.
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Speaker 1: She came up for parole September twenty nine, and after
1:34
Speaker 1: much much ado, was denied parole. The civil lawsuit accuses
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Speaker 1: her of using excessive force in Jean's death. Attorneys for
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Speaker 1: the Gene family, including high profile civil rights lawyer Ben Crump,
1:53
Speaker 1: lauded the verdict and pointed out that Botham was doing
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Speaker 1: nothing more than sitting in his own home eating ice
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Speaker 1: when Amber Geiger wrongly entered the victim's apartment and shot
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Speaker 1: him dead. Ninety eight point six million dollar verdict. What
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Speaker 1: happened that fateful night in Dallas, Texas.
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Speaker 2: I have asked too many questions, and I've been told
2:24
Speaker 2: that their answers. Yet I'm looking forward to all of
2:31
Speaker 2: the powers that be to come up with the answers
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Speaker 2: to make me more satisfied that they are doing what
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Speaker 2: is in the best interest of getting justice for both
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Speaker 2: of them.
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Speaker 1: You're hearing the mother of both of them, Jean. That's
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Speaker 1: Alison Jane, speaking through her pain as she searches for
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Speaker 1: answers as to why her son a really shining star,
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Speaker 1: a twenty six year old young man with his life
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Speaker 1: before him, had done great in school, had an awesome job,
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Speaker 1: had a beautiful apartment that he kept neat as a pin.
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Speaker 1: He's at home reading in his apartment at night when
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Speaker 1: a cop, a Dallas cop, comes through the door. He
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Speaker 1: stands up and she guns him down dead, and the
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Speaker 1: defense is I hope you're sitting down that she was
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Speaker 1: in the wrong apartment. She thought it was her apartment.
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Speaker 1: Now I had a problem with that. Now a lot
3:35
Speaker 1: of people claiming, oh, it's a racial issue, you know what,
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Speaker 1: Maybe it is. I don't know that. But my real
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Speaker 1: problem I don't care about the white, the black. That
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Speaker 1: this that that I care about. How can a cop
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Speaker 1: who's just come off duty, who we assume is going
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Speaker 1: to be stone cold, sober, maybe even a little wired
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Speaker 1: up from working a beat on the street, still in uniform,
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Speaker 1: goes to the wrong apartment, doesn't notice a key fact
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Speaker 1: about a bright red doormat his apartment, has it hers
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Speaker 1: doesn't jind notice that the we're now taking a close
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Speaker 1: look at the apartment itself. The numbers on the apartments
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Speaker 1: are lit up in kneon knee on. You walk in,
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Speaker 1: you can't see that's not your furniture. But still gun
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Speaker 1: somebody down. Now we are hearing that the doors to
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Speaker 1: the apartments. And I've had these in many places where
4:43
Speaker 1: I live, so I know, and still in New York,
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Speaker 1: a heavy metal fire door is your door. That's very common.
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Speaker 1: A heavy metal fire door that automatically slam shut allegedly
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Speaker 1: in this building where both of them lived. And listen
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Speaker 1: to this natural sound we've obtained of the video of
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Speaker 1: how this door works. Okay, you can't hear it at
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Speaker 1: the beginning, but you can hear with the shutting that
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Speaker 1: that's one of those heavy metal doors. When my apartment
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Speaker 1: door closes, you can hear, whether you barely three inches
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Speaker 1: to the doorjam or not, you can hear just like that.
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Speaker 1: That says a lot to me, which I will explain.
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Speaker 1: Joining me right now, Syndicated talk show host Dave Mack,
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Speaker 1: Also with me Renow New York psychologist Karen Stark, Kathleen Murphy,
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Speaker 1: North Carolina lawyer and Janson Heel, Nashville PD turned private
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Speaker 1: eye Dave Mac. Let's just start at the beginning for
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Speaker 1: people that are not familiar with the shooting death of
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Speaker 1: this young twenty six year old man, both of them.
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Speaker 1: Jane what happened that night?
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Speaker 3: An off duty police officer who had just finished her shift,
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Speaker 3: who lived directly below the victim. Here, she comes home,
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Speaker 3: she parks in the wrong parking deck, one deck higher
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Speaker 3: than she normally parks, and goes into If you believe
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Speaker 3: her story, she goes to her apartment what she believes
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Speaker 3: to be her apartment, and the door is a jar.
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Speaker 3: She opens the door, lights are all out, and she
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Speaker 3: sees the silhouette of a man who is not obeying
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Speaker 3: her commands to do whatever. The problem here is that
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Speaker 3: we don't have an answer as to why or anything
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Speaker 3: else except for the fact that we have one dead
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Speaker 3: twenty six year old young man and a police officer
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Speaker 3: with no reasonable story that can be believed.
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Speaker 1: I'm taking a look at the door right now, the
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Speaker 1: front door of Apartment thirteen seventy eight, directly below both
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Speaker 1: of them jeans. Now, this is Amber geig Or, the
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Speaker 1: police officer's front door. The panel to the left of
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Speaker 1: her door has the apartment lit up in neon. You
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Speaker 1: can't help but see it, Jack, You look at this.
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Speaker 1: See that's how it looks. It's a long rectangular strip
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Speaker 1: by every door, very clear, and it's kind of like,
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Speaker 1: I don't know what that style of art would be, geometric.
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Speaker 1: It's a rectangle. It looks to be like maybe three
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Speaker 1: or four feet long. It's beside to the left of
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Speaker 1: every door. It's decoration, and there's several squares lit up
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Speaker 1: white neon squares within the rectangle. It's vertical, and underneath
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Speaker 1: the first square, you see your apartment number lit up
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Speaker 1: fourteen seventy eight, thirteen seventy eight. It's literally lit up
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Speaker 1: in neon beside the door. That's what I'm saying. Both
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Speaker 1: of Jean was shot and killed by a Dallas police officer,
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Speaker 1: Amber Geiger, who says it was a mistake that she
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Speaker 1: went into both of Jean's apartment fourteen seventy eight thinking
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Speaker 1: it was her own thirteen seventy eight, But the door
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Speaker 1: numbers are clearly visible. Now, let me go back to you,
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Speaker 1: David Matt, syndicated talk show host, What can you tell
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Speaker 1: me again about the red, bright, red, deep red doormat?
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Speaker 3: Well, it was something that both put there on purpose
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Speaker 3: to differentiate his apartment from all of the others around him.
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Speaker 3: And if you actually look at the pictures we've seen,
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Speaker 3: nobody else has a red matt in front of their apartment,
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Speaker 3: and certainly not miss Geiger. She didn't have a mat
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Speaker 3: in front of her apartment. There's no excuse there that
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Speaker 3: that could have been a mistake. There's nothing to.
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Speaker 1: Her red semi circular doormat outside both of Jean's apartment.
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Speaker 1: Hers was bear I would have noticed that if I
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Speaker 1: came home and suddenly there was a bright red doormat
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Speaker 1: that I hadn't bought and it was out Because I know,
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Speaker 1: I can tell you this, My husband David is not
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Speaker 1: slung up at the bed, bathroom beyond. That's not happening, okay,
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Speaker 1: And no but me is going to take time out
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Speaker 1: to order anything on Amazon. Not happening. In fact, our
9:26
Speaker 1: code to Amazon is highly classified because if the twins
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Speaker 1: had that, I'd be in the poorhouse for sure. So
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Speaker 1: if I came home and see a red doormat, I'm
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Speaker 1: gonna notice it. And you got to keep in mind
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Speaker 1: as I was describing how the numbers are lit up
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Speaker 1: in Neon, I'm looking now at the front of the apartment.
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Speaker 1: It's very geometric looking. Check this out, Jackie, Jackie Howard
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Speaker 1: here in the studio with me. See everything. If you
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Speaker 1: look at the front of the building is tall, rectangular,
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Speaker 1: it's very geometric designing. The building is a square. It's
10:04
Speaker 1: very let me just say contemporary. And the front of
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Speaker 1: the building is decorated in rectangles, different types of rectangles. Now, also,
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Speaker 1: as she would, Jackie's holding up sign yes that you
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Speaker 1: would feel the doormat as you walk across and get
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Speaker 1: your key, which leads me to the key. Hold on, Vincent,
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Speaker 1: Kathleen and Karen. I just got to give you these facts,
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Speaker 1: David Mack tell me about the key. It's an electronic key.
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Speaker 3: They're right. Yeah, they're electronic keys, and they won't open
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Speaker 3: any door other than the one that they're codd for.
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Speaker 3: So the key for thirteen seventy eight Miss Geiger's apartment
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Speaker 3: would only open thirteen seventy eight. It would not have
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Speaker 3: opened fourteen seventy eight. And you got to remember her
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Speaker 3: claim that the door was a jar. We already proved
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Speaker 3: earlier that that wouldn't happen because they automatically closed. So
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Speaker 3: the options for what she's claiming nothing holds true to
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Speaker 3: her story at all. But that key, the electronic key,
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Speaker 3: the only on the wood work is fourteen seventy eight,
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Speaker 3: and both those keys were found inside the apartment.
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Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last hours, a
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Speaker 1: former Dallas police officer, Amber Geiger ordered to pay nearly
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Speaker 1: one hundred million dollars to the family of a man
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Speaker 1: wrongfully shot in his own apartment sitting on his own
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Speaker 1: sofa eating ice cream. Now this comes after another outrage
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Speaker 1: when the officer Amber Geiger went up for parole not
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Speaker 1: too too long after she was convicted in the shooting
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Speaker 1: death of Botham Gene. That's right, Geiger was convicted of
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Speaker 1: murdering Botham Gene just six years ago, and then she
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Speaker 1: came up for parole. What she's somebody dead on their
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Speaker 1: own sofa and you come up for parole in just
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Speaker 1: six years. There was outrage and out pouring of anger
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Speaker 1: when she came up for parole. I mean, she's only
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Speaker 1: got a ten year sentence for Pete's sake. Luckily the
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Speaker 1: parole board denied her parole. Now the civil trial, what happened.
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Speaker 2: I am faithful because of both them, as you are,
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Speaker 2: Nadi at times when you feel like giving up. I
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Speaker 2: could not give up because of both them. I'm right
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Speaker 2: now in his death. I can never give up because
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Speaker 2: I know that both them is singing with the angels,
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Speaker 2: and I want to join that choir.
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Speaker 1: The incredible composure of both of Jean's mother, Alison Jane,
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Speaker 1: speaking before the church congregation about her son, who was
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Speaker 1: shot dead in his own apartment, reportedly lying on sofa
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Speaker 1: or sitting on the sofa reading when a Dallas cop
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Speaker 1: a female Amber Geiger comes in and opens fire, joining me.
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Speaker 1: Vincent Hill, a private eye, former cop, Kathleen Murphy, North
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Speaker 1: Carolina lawyer Karen Start, New York psychologist and syndicated talk
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Speaker 1: show host Dave Mack. Let's start with you, Vincent Hill.
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Speaker 1: What do you make of it?
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Speaker 4: Nancy?
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Speaker 5: There's so many things missing here that I questioned with
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Speaker 5: this story.
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Speaker 4: I mean, she.
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Speaker 5: Says she went in, she saw a guide which she
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Speaker 5: thought was her apartment.
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Speaker 4: But here's the thing.
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Speaker 5: As a police officer, if I'm yelling commands, I would
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Speaker 5: expect some neighbor to be able to say yes I heard,
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Speaker 5: or say show me your hands or something like that.
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Speaker 5: You didn't hear any reports of that, Nancy. And we
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Speaker 5: also tell citizens, hey, if you get to your house
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Speaker 5: and you see your doors open, don't go in, come
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Speaker 5: out and call police. Why didn't she call for backup
13:55
Speaker 5: if her door was a jar as she cleaned, And
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Speaker 5: more importantly, where's this miss key reading? If she put
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Speaker 5: her key into that door? Because it's all electronic, it's
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Speaker 5: all monitored, so we should be able to go in
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Speaker 5: and see. Yes, she did indeed put the key in
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Speaker 5: the door. But I don't think we'll be able to
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Speaker 5: see that.
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Speaker 1: Now you said something very important. Well, everything you said
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Speaker 1: was critical in my mind, Vincent Hill, you're a former
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Speaker 1: cop turned private eye speaking of the neighbors not hearing
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Speaker 1: her say stand down, stand down, put your arms up,
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Speaker 1: put your hands in the hair. No. In fact, witnesses
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Speaker 1: are coming forward claiming they heard bamming on the door
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Speaker 1: and a woman yelling out, let me in, Let me
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Speaker 1: in now, Vincent Hill, eyewitness testimony is often attacked under
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Speaker 1: cross exam. What about ear witness?
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Speaker 5: I think there's no question these neighbors heard exactly what
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Speaker 5: they heard. The problem, of course, when this goes to
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Speaker 5: trial is how can you identify that voice? You know?
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Speaker 5: But at this point that's neither here nor there. More importantly, Nancy,
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Speaker 5: I would expect someone because trust me as a police officer,
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Speaker 5: and I did that job for many years. If I'm
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Speaker 5: yelling at someone with commands and my weapon is drawn,
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Speaker 5: you better believe the entire neighborhood would.
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Speaker 4: Be able to hear me.
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Speaker 1: Man, you're not kidding about that. If you've ever been
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Speaker 1: at a seine when CoP's yelled put your hands up,
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Speaker 1: put your hands up, they are screaming it out. Kathleen,
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Speaker 1: Murphy that I'm a North Carolina lawyer, Kathleen, I can't
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Speaker 1: help but wonder if there's some connection between both of them,
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Speaker 1: and both of them, Jean and Amber Geiger the cop
15:28
Speaker 1: just because the story doesn't make sense to me. But
15:31
Speaker 1: on another note, when I'm saying eyewitness testimony is often
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Speaker 1: attacked in court, your witness testimony could be a problem
15:38
Speaker 1: as well, unless there's more than one witness saying they
15:42
Speaker 1: heard it.
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Speaker 6: Well, there is a connection Nancy, and I'd like to
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Speaker 6: read this, But she wrote a complaint to the apartment
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Speaker 6: complex about our victim that he was making too much noise,
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Speaker 6: and that was about a week before this incident happened.
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Speaker 6: And Vincent makes wonderful But on a previous show, he
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Speaker 6: also made a point that she would have not gone
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Speaker 6: into a dark room. She would have had her flashfight
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Speaker 6: on and both of the sister said, she's afraid, he's
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Speaker 6: afraid of the dark. So was he reading a book
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Speaker 6: in the dark. And there's just too many holes in
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Speaker 6: the story. And there is a connection there.
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Speaker 1: You know, she had only lived in the building for
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Speaker 1: a very short time. It was a very expensive building.
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Speaker 1: The prices in the block. It's Dallas's gentrifying South Side
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Speaker 1: area started nine forty five, rising to twenty four hundred
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Speaker 1: and thirty five dollars a month. Now the Dallas Police
16:41
Speaker 1: headquarters on La Mar Street is directly next door. Now,
16:45
Speaker 1: this guy both of Jean was a graduate of Harding
16:47
Speaker 1: University in Arkansas. Now, it appeared that both he and
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Speaker 1: Geiger had good relations with all of their neighbors. I'm
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Speaker 1: very curious about this noise report that you're telling me
17:00
Speaker 1: about that she filed on him. I know there were
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Speaker 1: noise complaints that day about upstairs activity in his apartment.
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Speaker 1: He got a call about noise coming from his apartment
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Speaker 1: from the downstairs neighbor. That had to be her. Is
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Speaker 1: that the report you're talking about, Kathleen.
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Speaker 4: It is the report I'm talking about.
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Speaker 6: And I don't know if it's a written report or not.
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Speaker 6: I don't know if she called it in. But there's
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Speaker 6: a report out there made by her against our victim.
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Speaker 1: Now, according to his family, they say they did not
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Speaker 1: know each other. There's no relationship, Katches. She had only
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Speaker 1: been living there a month, a little over a month
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Speaker 1: prior to the shooting, and that, if it's her, had
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Speaker 1: already been complaining about noise overhead. I'm looking at her
17:46
Speaker 1: right now and him according again according to his family,
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Speaker 1: no relationship to Karen Start New York psychologists. We now
17:56
Speaker 1: have complaints that the victim in this case, both of Jane,
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Speaker 1: who never has had any police problem nothing, is now
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Speaker 1: being attacked and dragged through the mud his reputation.
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Speaker 7: Why I would think that that would have to do
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Speaker 7: with the fact that she's a police officer, Nancy. So
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Speaker 7: they're trying to find ways to make it look like
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Speaker 7: he was doing something wrong, there was something suspicious going on,
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Speaker 7: trying to back her up in some way by denigrating
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Speaker 7: this guy, which it's along with the whole story is
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Speaker 7: a mess because it doesn't make a lot of sense.
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Speaker 7: This is a good kid who really sounds like he
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Speaker 7: was sitting there innocently and was shot. And I wonder
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Speaker 7: how about her own anger the policewoman. It's so, was
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Speaker 7: she excessively aggressive? Did she have a history where people
18:54
Speaker 7: knew that? What's her history in the police force?
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Speaker 8: Too?
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Speaker 1: Well? What they're saying right now on their complaints, Dallas
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Speaker 1: police investigators seeking evidence, reportedly, according to their critics, to
19:06
Speaker 1: discredit both of Jane, who was shot dead by a
19:10
Speaker 1: white off duty officer. Now that's according to the victims family.
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Speaker 1: Police did execute multiple search warrant at both of his
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Speaker 1: apartment in the aftermath of the killing, and complaints are
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Speaker 1: they should have been in her apartment looking for whatever
19:26
Speaker 1: they could find evidence relevant to the homicide investigation, but
19:30
Speaker 1: instead they were looking in his apartment. What about that,
19:34
Speaker 1: your former con vincent Hill.
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Speaker 5: Well, Nancy, I can understand the search warrant of his
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Speaker 5: apartment simply because it was an active crime scene, right.
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Speaker 5: There was a shooting there, so I understand that piece
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Speaker 5: of it. But what they found in that search warrant
19:47
Speaker 5: has absolutely nothing to do with the shooting. There's reports
19:51
Speaker 5: that ten point five grahams of marijuana were found there,
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Speaker 5: So what he was in his apartment, if he's using
19:58
Speaker 5: marijuana for recreational use, who cares? It has absolutely nothing
20:02
Speaker 5: to do with the shooting. But I would assume a
20:04
Speaker 5: defense attorney will come back and say, well, there was
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Speaker 5: marijuana found, that's why he wasn't listening to her commands
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Speaker 5: and that's what caused the shooting. I think that's what
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Speaker 5: the intent hears.
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Speaker 1: Nancy, Well, what about the use of deadly force? If
20:17
Speaker 1: she just says in her own statement that she saw
20:21
Speaker 1: him and took out her pistol, took out her firearm.
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Speaker 1: I don't understand that that is the correct standard for
20:28
Speaker 1: an officer to use deadly force. Vincent.
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Speaker 5: Well, any citizen can do that, Nancy, if you come
20:35
Speaker 5: into your home and you see someone in there, and
20:38
Speaker 5: you can protect your domicile in that way up to
20:41
Speaker 5: deadly force. So I understand that part. But what I
20:44
Speaker 5: don't understand is based on her training and based on
20:47
Speaker 5: what we tell citizens to do, she should have handled
20:50
Speaker 5: that totally different. I didn't see any reports that she
20:53
Speaker 5: keyed up on the radio to dispatch to say, there's
20:56
Speaker 5: someone in my apartment, send backup. Nothing like that, Nancy.
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Speaker 5: Only until she called nine to one from her cell
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Speaker 5: phone did she even alert police that something was going on.
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Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. When the police go in
21:20
Speaker 1: to search, it's signs of life, and they're very poignant.
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Speaker 1: A half eaten bowl of cereal, a flip flop still
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Speaker 1: lying there where he was killed. Metal fire doors that
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Speaker 1: slam locked, contradicting her claims that it was open and
21:38
Speaker 1: she went in. I'm looking at the scenes and it
21:42
Speaker 1: looks as if he was sitting there, maybe even having
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Speaker 1: cereal and reading. I'm looking at it. It's an autobiography
21:52
Speaker 1: of Gucci Maine. There's this flip flop the home with
21:57
Speaker 1: a large stack of pillows on the sofa, pillows and
22:00
Speaker 1: blankets there. I'm just looking at it. Looks like a
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Speaker 1: typical guy's home, kind of messy, kind of clean, and
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Speaker 1: I can imagine him sitting there, minding his own business
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Speaker 1: just before he is gunned down. Right now, joining me
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Speaker 1: as special guest, the lawyer for both of Jean's family,
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Speaker 1: longtime friend and colleague, Benjamin Krump. Ben thank you so
22:26
Speaker 1: much for being with us. Now, why are you sure
22:31
Speaker 1: or are you sure that the shooting was racially motivated?
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Speaker 4: We don't have any evidence at this time to demonstrate
22:39
Speaker 4: one of whether racism was a factor in this crime.
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Speaker 1: I would be more focused at this point on finding motive.
22:48
Speaker 1: Of course, the state doesn't have to prove motive, but
22:51
Speaker 1: in this case, any jury is going to want to
22:54
Speaker 1: know the motive if it's not a racially motivated crime.
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Speaker 1: For instance, I know that she the officer had complained
23:03
Speaker 1: and made a noise complaint. Did they have words? Was
23:07
Speaker 1: she angry? Was he angry? According to witnesses now emerging,
23:11
Speaker 1: they heard a woman bamming on a door saying let
23:14
Speaker 1: me in, let me in. But let me ask you this, Ben,
23:17
Speaker 1: do you have any reason to believe Officer Geiger and
23:20
Speaker 1: both of them Jane had any connection before the shooting, like
23:24
Speaker 1: some kind of relationship.
23:25
Speaker 4: Again, we don't have any information to know that at
23:29
Speaker 4: this time. And then it's one of the big things
23:32
Speaker 4: is we're waiting to get the phone records not only
23:36
Speaker 4: from both them, Joan, but also from the police officer's
23:41
Speaker 4: phone records to determine if they had any interaction whatsoever.
23:45
Speaker 1: You know, everyone with me, Benjamin Crump, Ben, how could
23:50
Speaker 1: Geiger not know it wasn't her apartment because of the
23:55
Speaker 1: big rent and I mean red candy apple read rug
24:00
Speaker 1: you know, one of those semi circular rugs doormats, and
24:05
Speaker 1: there was a different number. Not only that it was
24:07
Speaker 1: lit up in neon, Ben, It's.
24:09
Speaker 4: Just mind boggling when you think about it, both of them,
24:13
Speaker 4: John had a big red rug right out front his
24:18
Speaker 4: apartment for the very reason people would know that that
24:22
Speaker 4: was his apartment. Also, when you think about the probable cause, Affidavid,
24:28
Speaker 4: that they used to issue a warrant in that statement,
24:35
Speaker 4: the Texas Rangers, based on what we believe could only
24:38
Speaker 4: be her account says that the door was a jar,
24:43
Speaker 4: that it wasn't locked, and that's hard to believe when
24:47
Speaker 4: you look at that door, how it has a very
24:51
Speaker 4: heavy lash that pulls the door close it. The door
24:56
Speaker 4: won't stay open on its own. And the fact that
25:00
Speaker 4: she claims to have put the key in the door, well,
25:02
Speaker 4: if the door is open, why would you put the
25:04
Speaker 4: key in the door. These are things that just trouble
25:08
Speaker 4: both of them. John's family to no end because they
25:11
Speaker 4: still cannot understand why he is in his apartment, minding
25:16
Speaker 4: his business, doing everything he has the legal right to do,
25:19
Speaker 4: and the police officer breaks in and kills him, and
25:23
Speaker 4: now she's attempting to claim in some way a self
25:26
Speaker 4: defense argument. It just makes no sense to them at all.
25:31
Speaker 1: I mean, guys, gotta look at this from both of
25:35
Speaker 1: Jane's family point of view, or you think about it,
25:38
Speaker 1: if you're in your own home and a cop comes
25:41
Speaker 1: in the front door and shoots you dead while you're
25:44
Speaker 1: in your own home. There was a half eaten bowl
25:47
Speaker 1: of cereal, there were books laying around. Was He's just
25:49
Speaker 1: sitting there having cereal reading a book, and now he's dead.
25:54
Speaker 1: We are looking for answers, and to you, Vincent Hill,
25:57
Speaker 1: former cop turned PI Vincent, did you hear what Ben
26:01
Speaker 1: just said? And he's right. I've been concerned about this
26:05
Speaker 1: big metal door. We just played it. You can hear
26:07
Speaker 1: it slam shut, and I can relate to that because
26:09
Speaker 1: that's the way the door is in our apartment in
26:14
Speaker 1: New York. It slams shut. I have to rig it
26:18
Speaker 1: to make it be open. Like if I go out
26:20
Speaker 1: to throw trash down the chute down the hall, I
26:23
Speaker 1: have to rig the door to make it stay open,
26:26
Speaker 1: or it will shut behind me and I'll be out
26:28
Speaker 1: in the hall. So we play that. You can hear
26:31
Speaker 1: the door shutting. But listen to this Vistenthill. Based on
26:34
Speaker 1: what Ben Crump just said, Officer Guy Gerut does say
26:38
Speaker 1: she used her key. Now I think it's an electronic key.
26:43
Speaker 1: But if the door was a jar, why would she
26:46
Speaker 1: need to use her key? Why would you even go
26:48
Speaker 1: in if the door is open when you get home? Vincent,
26:52
Speaker 1: this story doesn't make sense.
26:55
Speaker 5: Well, Nancy, there's just too many contradictions in what she says.
26:58
Speaker 5: It was a jar, but I used my key with
27:00
Speaker 5: she's an electronic key. Again, I want to see a
27:02
Speaker 5: record that the wrong key was put in to his door.
27:05
Speaker 5: That should be recorded because all of that is electronic.
27:08
Speaker 5: But police officers tell people when you come to your house,
27:12
Speaker 5: your door is ajar call us, wait for us to
27:15
Speaker 5: go in and clear it. And I'm troubled that I
27:17
Speaker 5: didn't hear any radio transmission from this officer saying, Hey,
27:21
Speaker 5: someone's at my house policing some additional units, so we
27:25
Speaker 5: can go in and clear my house. Because she didn't
27:27
Speaker 5: know if it was her apartment, what was on the
27:30
Speaker 5: other side of that door. It could have been five
27:32
Speaker 5: or six people waiting there to ambush her, So why
27:34
Speaker 5: would she just go in.
27:36
Speaker 1: Well, here's another thing. To doctor Lauren Howard, New York
27:38
Speaker 1: Psychologists joining me, Lauren, here's the thing she probably, and
27:43
Speaker 1: I'm projecting, felt that as a cop, she had to explain,
27:49
Speaker 1: I had to say something, give some explanation. Okay, she
27:52
Speaker 1: couldn't take the field for Pete's sake, but her story
27:55
Speaker 1: is getting all twisted up.
27:57
Speaker 8: Well, it's getting all twisted up because when a story
27:59
Speaker 8: gets twisted up, what if to tell you that the
28:01
Speaker 8: story's not accurate. You know, one thing we know is
28:05
Speaker 8: police do gather around one another. I mean, it's pretty
28:08
Speaker 8: rare for police to get convicted.
28:11
Speaker 9: And that's wrong. I mean, that is patently wrong. Whether
28:15
Speaker 9: this was racially motivated or based on a past history
28:19
Speaker 9: between the two of them, some disagreement they had, or
28:23
Speaker 9: simply just she screwed up, walked in the wrong apartment,
28:28
Speaker 9: saw a large person and shot first. It doesn't mat.
28:33
Speaker 1: I mean when you say cops around each other, they're
28:36
Speaker 1: like family because they've been in basically combat conditions for
28:40
Speaker 1: years on end, and in their mind they're like, I
28:43
Speaker 1: know her, she did not do this on purpose. But
28:45
Speaker 1: they may or may not be wrong. I hear what
28:48
Speaker 1: you're saying. Back to Ben Krump, the family lawyer for
28:51
Speaker 1: both of Jean's family, Ben, what does the family learn,
28:54
Speaker 1: if anything, from all the neighbors. I understand they've come
28:57
Speaker 1: forward to you with information about what they heard that night.
29:02
Speaker 4: Certainly there were neighbors who came forward to the family
29:07
Speaker 4: and they believed that they heard not only conversation or
29:18
Speaker 4: verbal communication before the gun shots, they also heard knocking
29:23
Speaker 4: at the door on more than one occasion before they
29:28
Speaker 4: heard the gun shots. So if this was allegedly her apartment,
29:34
Speaker 4: So she says, why would she be knocking on a door,
29:38
Speaker 4: that door that was open. In their mind, so they
29:41
Speaker 4: don't think the things that are coming out in the
29:44
Speaker 4: media are accurate. So that's why they came forward to
29:47
Speaker 4: the family, and we then forwarded them to the District
29:51
Speaker 4: Attorney's office and the law enforcement authorities to make sure
29:55
Speaker 4: that their statements were recorded for the use of information
30:00
Speaker 4: gathering in this case. Also, I might add that she
30:05
Speaker 4: admits that there were a verbal commands that she issued.
30:10
Speaker 4: I want to ask you this, Nacy. You in your apartment,
30:13
Speaker 4: somebody comes in and they starts yelling at you. Iss
30:18
Speaker 4: in verbal commands, wouldn't the person say something back in response? Well,
30:23
Speaker 4: based on what we know from this affidavit, she claims
30:27
Speaker 4: that both of them, John doesn't say anything in response.
30:30
Speaker 4: In fact, she claims that she just sees this dark
30:35
Speaker 4: figure in the shadows and she shoots into the apartment
30:40
Speaker 4: from outside the apartment. Now, this is something that I
30:44
Speaker 4: don't believe even a reasonable citizen would do. But this
30:49
Speaker 4: is supposed to be a well trained police officer. Where
30:53
Speaker 4: is that in the training, Nancy? Where is that in
30:55
Speaker 4: the policy? Will you shoot into a dark apartment that
31:01
Speaker 4: you don't know who is in there. Why couldn't she
31:03
Speaker 4: have just taken the perimeter if she felt her place
31:07
Speaker 4: was being burglarized and called for backup. The police department
31:11
Speaker 4: was less than three minutes from this apartment complex. There
31:16
Speaker 4: is no reason both of them Johns should be dead.
31:19
Speaker 4: Black people get killed in some of the most offortrayed
31:23
Speaker 4: ways in America. You know, driving while black while we're
31:27
Speaker 4: in our automobiles, walking while black while we're in our neighborhoods.
31:33
Speaker 4: And now it's living while black while we're in our
31:37
Speaker 4: own apartments and houses, doing everything that we have the
31:42
Speaker 4: legal right to do. And that's what's so outrageous about
31:45
Speaker 4: this case. Not only is it shocking to both them
31:48
Speaker 4: Jones family, it is astonishing to many sensible people, not
31:55
Speaker 4: only in America but all around the world.
31:57
Speaker 1: AMBERGI are convicted of murder, got just ten years in prison.
32:03
Speaker 1: She appealed her conviction, lost the appeal, and then within
32:06
Speaker 1: just a few short years came up for parole. How
32:08
Speaker 1: is that possible? Wisely, the parole board denied it. Then
32:13
Speaker 1: Geiger faced a civil suit by the victim's family, which
32:18
Speaker 1: she just lost. Now she owes nearly one hundred million dollars.
32:24
Speaker 1: Botham's family still distraught over his untimely death, the award
32:30
Speaker 1: of nearly one hundred million dollars is cold consolation for
32:35
Speaker 1: the death of her son. There's also the likelihood they'll
32:39
Speaker 1: never be paid. Now. Somehow, attorneys must convince the court
32:45
Speaker 1: system that the city is also liable, not just Amber Geiger.
32:53
Speaker 1: We wait as just as unfolds good life