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DONKEY: Texas Criminal Justice System Releases Ex-Cop From Prison After She Mistakenly Shot Her Neighbor · The Breakfast Club

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: It's time for Donkey of the Day.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: I'm a Democrat, so being Donkey of the Day is
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: a little bit of a mixed place.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: So like a donkey. Donkey of the Day. Breakfast Club, bitches.
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: Now, I've been called a lot in my 23 years,
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: but Donkey of the Day is a new one.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, Donkey of the Day for Tuesday, October 20th goes
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: to the Texas criminal justice system. Oh, the mayonnaise is
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: heavy with this one, ladies and gentlemen. Before we even
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: get started, I need you all to remember and center
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  Speaker 2: the name Botham John. Okay, I need everybody to remember
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  Speaker 2: the name Botham John. Botham was a 26-year-old black man
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: living in Dallas, Texas. And on September 6, 2018, he
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: was sitting in his own apartment, minding his business, eating
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: some ice cream, when an off-duty police officer named Amber
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  Speaker 2: Geiger walked in his apartment and shot him to death.
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  Speaker 2: Let's go to KPRC 2 News for the original report, please.
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: It took about six hours of deliberations and some additional
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: questions about the case, but the jury decided Amber Geiger
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  Speaker 4: committed murder.
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  Speaker 3: We, the jury, unanimously find the defendant, Amber Geiger, guilty
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  Speaker 3: of murder.
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  Speaker 4: The former Dallas police officer, now a convicted killer, a
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  Speaker 4: year after she walked into the wrong apartment, a floor
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  Speaker 4: above her, shooting Botham Jean, who was eating ice cream
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  Speaker 4: and watching a movie inside his home. His family celebrating
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  Speaker 4: the verdict while Amber Geiger was visibly shaken. The jury's
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  Speaker 4: decision comes after seven days of arguments and evidence. Another
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  Speaker 4: riveting moment during the trial.
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  Speaker 1: I was scared. Whoever was inside my apartment was going
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  Speaker 1: to kill me.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm sorry.
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  Speaker 4: Geiger's emotionally charged testimony.
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  Speaker 2: I wish he was the one with the gun that
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  Speaker 2: killed me.
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  Speaker 3: I never wanted to take an innocent person's life.
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  Speaker 4: Her words apparently did not resonate with the jury.
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  Speaker 2: I know a lot of things happen in this world,
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  Speaker 2: so we might have forgotten about that case. But I
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  Speaker 2: just wanted to refresh your memory. OK, Amber Geiger claimed
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  Speaker 2: she thought she was entering her own apartment.
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  Speaker 1: She says she mistook. Bolton John for an intruder. Imagine that.
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  Speaker 2: OK, you're in your own home doing absolutely nothing wrong.
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  Speaker 2: And somebody walks into your apartment, mistakes you for an
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  Speaker 2: intruder and kills you. OK, there is absolutely nothing Bolton
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  Speaker 2: could have done differently in that situation to still be alive,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: except not be at home. OK, we constantly tell black
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  Speaker 2: men how to behave during encounters with police.
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  Speaker 1: Keep your hands visible. Don't make sudden movements. Follow instructions.
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  Speaker 1: Don't resist. Both of them wasn't having an encounter with
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  Speaker 1: the police. He was home. OK, enjoying a bowl.
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  Speaker 2: Of ice cream, a luxury that I that I should
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  Speaker 2: not experience because I'm lactose intolerant.
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  Speaker 3: All right.
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  Speaker 2: He wasn't driving. He wasn't running. He wasn't resisting arrest.
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  Speaker 2: He wasn't committing a crime. He was sitting in his
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  Speaker 2: own apartment eating ice cream and he was murdered. Let's
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  Speaker 2: never forget that. OK, let's never forget that story or
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: the context of that story. Now, in 2019, Amber Giger
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
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  Speaker 2: Prosecutors asked for 28, but she only ended up serving 10.
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  Speaker 3: Seven.
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  Speaker 2: She came home last Friday. Let's go to Fox 4
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: for the report, please.
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  Speaker 3: After seven years of serving her sentence, Amber Geiger was
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  Speaker 3: released from the Christina Melton crane unit here in Gatesville.
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  Speaker 3: It is 42 miles west of Waco. She was released
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  Speaker 3: this morning, but we don't know exactly what time the
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  Speaker 3: Texas Department of of criminal justice is not releasing that information.
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  Speaker 3: Her attorney, Robert Roberts, told me that she does have
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: a job lined up and she's not wanting to make
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  Speaker 3: any statements. The murder happened September 6th, 2018. Geiger returned
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  Speaker 3: to her home after a 13-hour shift. She lived on
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  Speaker 3: the third floor of Southside Flats near downtown Dallas. Geiger
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  Speaker 3: said she did not notice that she was on the
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  Speaker 3: fourth floor or see the red door mount outside Botham
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  Speaker 3: Jean's apartment. She walked inside and shot Jean twice, believing
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  Speaker 3: he was a burglar She called 911 and first responders
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  Speaker 3: took Sean to a hospital where he died. He was
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  Speaker 3: 26 years old. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
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  Speaker 3: listed several reasons for Geiger's early release. Those reasons included
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  Speaker 3: no pattern of violence, institutional adjustment and completion of programs
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  Speaker 3: and activities and the individual treatment plan.
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  Speaker 2: Now, I'm not here to argue against rehabilitation. I'm not
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  Speaker 2: against forgiveness. I'm all for second chances. OK, I believe
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  Speaker 2: people can change.
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  Speaker 1: I believe you can be redeemed. All right.
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  Speaker 2: But this situation raises a question that I think we
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  Speaker 2: should all be asking. Whose humanity gets centered? in the
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  Speaker 2: American criminal justice system. Because when Amber Guyger killed Bolton John,
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  Speaker 2: we heard about how tired she was, how confused she was,
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  Speaker 2: how she made a mistake, how she didn't mean to
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  Speaker 2: kill him, okay? She accidentally walked into the wrong apartment.
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  Speaker 2: When she was sentenced, we heard about her remorse, okay?
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  Speaker 2: When she became eligible for parole, we heard about her
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  Speaker 2: good behavior, we heard about her rehabilitation and whether she
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: deserved another chance. At every stage of this process, there
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: was an opportunity to consider Amber Guyger's humanity. How much
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  Speaker 2: consideration was given to Bolton Johns? Bolton was 26 years old.
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  Speaker 2: He had a family who loved him. OK, he had dreams.
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  Speaker 1: He had plans.
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  Speaker 2: He had an entire future that was taken away from him.
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  Speaker 2: He never got to turn 27. Amber Geiger gets to
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  Speaker 2: rebuild her life at 38. OK, Bolton John never got
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  Speaker 2: the opportunity to rebuild anything. And that's what bothers me
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  Speaker 2: about this situation. We seem to spend more time discussing
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  Speaker 2: the circumstances of the person who took a black life
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  Speaker 2: than the value of the black life that was taken.
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  Speaker 1: I know, I know. Why do you have to make
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  Speaker 1: this about race, Charlemagne? Because we do. All right. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: we have to talk about race and policing.
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  Speaker 2: Amber Geiger is a white former police officer. Botham John
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  Speaker 2: was an innocent black man. Now, can I prove that
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  Speaker 2: Amber Geiger received a 10-year sentence and was granted parole
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  Speaker 2: because she's white or because she was a police officer?
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  Speaker 4: No.
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  Speaker 2: But we would be foolish not to question whether race
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  Speaker 2: and professional privilege influence how people experience the criminal justice system.
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  Speaker 1: OK, we know it does.
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  Speaker 3: All right.
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  Speaker 1: Because I want you to imagine something.
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  Speaker 2: What if Botham John had accidentally walked into Amber Geiger's
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  Speaker 2: apartment and shot her?
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  Speaker 1: Would the system have shown him the same consideration?
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  Speaker 2: Would we have heard about how tired he was, how
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  Speaker 2: confused he was, how he made an honest mistake?
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  Speaker 1: Look at the headline.
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  Speaker 2: Black man walked into a white woman police officer's apartment
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  Speaker 2: accidentally and killed her.
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  Speaker 1: Would he have just received 10 years? Would he be
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  Speaker 1: walking out of prison seven years later?
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  Speaker 2: I don't know the answer to those questions, but based
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  Speaker 2: off what this country has shown, based off what states
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  Speaker 2: like Texas.
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  Speaker 1: Have shown me, the answer to that is hell no.
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  Speaker 1: But the fact... that we have to ask.
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  Speaker 2: That question says something about the lack of trust people
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  Speaker 2: have in our justice system. And I know some people
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  Speaker 2: are going to say, well, Charlemagne, she served her time.
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  Speaker 1: She followed the rules. She was eligible for parole. You're right.
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  Speaker 2: That's why the Texas criminal justice system is getting donkier today.
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  Speaker 2: Amber Geiger didn't sentence herself to 10 years. She didn't
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  Speaker 2: write the parole law. She didn't grant herself parole. The
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: system did all that. And when a person can be
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: convicted of murdering an innocent man in his own home
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  Speaker 2: and be back home seven years later, I think we
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  Speaker 2: have every right to question whether that system delivered accurate justice.
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  Speaker 2: I also want to acknowledge something that happened during Amber
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: Geiger's sentencing. Botham John's younger brother, I think he pronounced
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  Speaker 2: his name Brant. He publicly forgave Amber. He even embraced
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  Speaker 2: her in the courtroom. That was an extraordinary act of grace.
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  Speaker 2: I don't have that in me. OK, I don't care
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  Speaker 2: how much work I've done on myself. I absolutely do
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  Speaker 2: not have that in me. But forgiveness and accountability are
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  Speaker 2: not the same thing. If Brant John wanted to forgive
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  Speaker 2: Amber Geiger, that's on him. I personally don't believe we
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  Speaker 2: should stop recognizing the humanity of a person just because
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: they've committed a crime. So he had every right to
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  Speaker 2: forgive Amber Geiger. But I want all of us to
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  Speaker 2: make sure we're recognizing the humanity of the people. OK,
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: harmed by those crimes, too, because Amber Geiger is going
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  Speaker 2: to have birthdays. OK, she's going to spend the holidays
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  Speaker 2: with her family. She's going to experience things that Boston
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  Speaker 2: John and his family never will be able to again.
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  Speaker 2: And I keep coming back to one thing. Amber Geiger
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  Speaker 2: gets to go home after seven years. Botham John was
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  Speaker 2: already home. That's what she killed him. Okay, the one
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  Speaker 2: place Botham should have been safe was the place where
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: his life ended, okay? And the person responsible for ending
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  Speaker 2: it now gets another opportunity to live hers. So my
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  Speaker 2: question to the Texas criminal justice system is simple. When
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  Speaker 2: you considered Amber Geiger's remorse and rehabilitation and her future,
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  Speaker 2: how much weight did you give to the future she
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  Speaker 2: took away? Because justice should never require us to ignore
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  Speaker 2: one person's humanity to recognize another's. Please let Chelsea Handler
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  Speaker 2: give the Texas criminal justice system the biggest hee-haw.
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  Speaker 4: Hee-haw, hee-haw.
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  Speaker 1: That is way too much Dan Menez.
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  Speaker 2: Well, hopefully she moves safe, you know, because everybody knows
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  Speaker 2: she is.
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  Speaker 1: So hopefully she moves very safe. Ain't nobody going to
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  Speaker 1: do nothing. I'm just saying hopefully she moves safe.
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  Speaker 4: All right. Never know.
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  Speaker 1: Well, thank you for that donkey today. Now, who's joining
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: us next? Oh, Jake. Jake Uger. Jake Uger.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: He is from the Young Turks Network. He's the founder, creator,
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: co-host of the online news show, The Young Turks Network.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: So he'll be joining us next. And we're going to
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: talk to him next at Oak Move. It's The Breakfast Club.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: Good morning.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Donkey of the Day is sponsored by renowned personal injury attorney,
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