Ms Jefferson was shot and killed at approximately 2:25 a.m. Saturday. Officers responded to a call by a neighbor of Ms Jefferson that her front door was open. The shooting officer, Aaron Dean of the Fort Worth Police Department, has been charged with murder. FWPD released all but the critical moment, the shooting, from body cam footage. The arrest warrant has also been released. However I have not been able to find it in any medium, CNN, USAToday, the Dallas Morning News, that I have checked. I do not understand why they would release all but the critical moment of the body cam. I have only the media's summary of both the body cam footage and the warrant to go on. This from the Dallas paper:
[Ms Jefferson's eight year-old nephew] who was in the room with Jefferson when she was shot, told a forensic interviewer that he and his aunt were playing video games together about 2:30 a.m. Saturday when she heard noises outside their home in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue.
Jefferson, 28, took her handgun from her purse and pointed it “toward the window” before she was shot, the nephew said, according to the arrest-warrant affidavit.
To me this is the most important factor, it is the fulcrum on which the case rests and that fact tilts the scales of justice and the charging decision decisively away from charging Dean. That fact alone negates proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
...
The arrest-warrant affidavit for Dean released by police Tuesday said the glass storm doors to the house were closed, but the front and side interior doors were open. Officers peered into the residence through the storm doors but did not see anyone, and they did not announce their presence, according to the affidavit.
That they did NOT identify themselves as police is GOOD for the decision to arrest.
...
In body-camera footage of the shooting, Dean walks around in the backyard of the home. About a minute and a half into the recording released by Fort Worth police, Dean swivels toward a window, shouts at Jefferson to put up her hands and shoots her, all in a matter of seconds.
...
Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said at a news conference Tuesday that it “makes sense that she would have a gun if she felt that she was being threatened or there was someone in the backyard.”
That sentiment was echoed by an attorney for the victim’s family. Lee Merritt said Jefferson had every right to defend herself because the officers did not announce themselves as law enforcement.
Per above that is good for the decision to arrest. They should have announced themselves as LEO’s.
“It’s only appropriate that Ms. Jefferson would have a gun,” he said, noting that she had a license to carry the legally owned firearm. "When you think there’s someone prowling around in the back at 2 a.m. in the morning, you may need to arm yourself. That person could have a gun.”
It is NOT appropriate for any citizen to "point a gun toward the window" when (s)he hears noises in her backyard at 2:30 a.m. Pointing a loaded firearm is escalating a prowler to the threat to use deadly force. I assume that Ms Johnson did not know that those outside her window were police officers. However, as a matter of undisputed fact they WERE police officers and they had every right to be where they were. They received a call, summarized in the first paragraph of this post. They surveilled the outside looking for anything suspicious. When Dean turned toward the window Jefferson was pointing a gun directly at him. He had a right to be where he was and was confronted with a dramatic escalation, the threat to use deadly force. Confronted with imminent death or great bodily harm Dean had every right to shoot Ms. Jefferson.
From USAToday:
Authorities released an arrest warrant in which Jefferson's 8-year-old nephew says his aunt pointed a gun at the window after they heard suspicious noises outside.
Again, that fact is game, set, no-action.
There's no indication Dean could see the gun, and his bodycam video showed the view through the window obstructed by the reflection from his flashlight. The arrest warrant also cites Dean's partner as saying she could only see Jefferson's face through the window.
This is something in FWPD's favor but it is ultimately far short of making this an unlawful homicide. That is, if Dean could not see that Jefferson had a gun--USAToday does not say the affidavit claims Dean could not see a gun--it says "There is no indication from the body cam that Dean could see a gun” because Dean's flashlight glared out what the body cam could capture, but that does not mean that Dean's vision was obstructed as the body cam was. It is something that Dean's partner says he "could only see Jefferson's face." "Could only” means the partner's vision was obstructed, by angle, by Dean, by reflection, who knows.
What we are left with on this admittedly and maddeningly incomplete information is,
1) Ms Johnson had a gun within reach. There is no dispute on this. The gun was recovered on scene.
2) Ms Johnson was indisputably in a place, her home, where of course she had a right to be.
3) Officer Dean and his partner were not acting as vigilantes, they were dispatched pursuant to a call from a neighbor that a door was open and there were lights on inside--at 2:30 a.m.
4) Dean and his partner had a right and duty to be where they were.
5) An eight year-old boy, Jefferson's nephew, said Jefferson pointed her gun at the window where Officer Dean was outside.
On this information alone as the only information available to me at least, Officer Aaron Dean's police shooting of Atatiana Jefferson is JUSTIFIED. Justified. On the evidence available to me tonight Aaron Dean has been WRONGFULLY ACCUSED OF MURDER in the shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson.
I am,
BENJAMIN HARRIS.
This is Public Occurrences.
[Ms Jefferson's eight year-old nephew] who was in the room with Jefferson when she was shot, told a forensic interviewer that he and his aunt were playing video games together about 2:30 a.m. Saturday when she heard noises outside their home in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue.
Jefferson, 28, took her handgun from her purse and pointed it “toward the window” before she was shot, the nephew said, according to the arrest-warrant affidavit.
To me this is the most important factor, it is the fulcrum on which the case rests and that fact tilts the scales of justice and the charging decision decisively away from charging Dean. That fact alone negates proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
...
The arrest-warrant affidavit for Dean released by police Tuesday said the glass storm doors to the house were closed, but the front and side interior doors were open. Officers peered into the residence through the storm doors but did not see anyone, and they did not announce their presence, according to the affidavit.
That they did NOT identify themselves as police is GOOD for the decision to arrest.
...
In body-camera footage of the shooting, Dean walks around in the backyard of the home. About a minute and a half into the recording released by Fort Worth police, Dean swivels toward a window, shouts at Jefferson to put up her hands and shoots her, all in a matter of seconds.
...
Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said at a news conference Tuesday that it “makes sense that she would have a gun if she felt that she was being threatened or there was someone in the backyard.”
That sentiment was echoed by an attorney for the victim’s family. Lee Merritt said Jefferson had every right to defend herself because the officers did not announce themselves as law enforcement.
Per above that is good for the decision to arrest. They should have announced themselves as LEO’s.
“It’s only appropriate that Ms. Jefferson would have a gun,” he said, noting that she had a license to carry the legally owned firearm. "When you think there’s someone prowling around in the back at 2 a.m. in the morning, you may need to arm yourself. That person could have a gun.”
It is NOT appropriate for any citizen to "point a gun toward the window" when (s)he hears noises in her backyard at 2:30 a.m. Pointing a loaded firearm is escalating a prowler to the threat to use deadly force. I assume that Ms Johnson did not know that those outside her window were police officers. However, as a matter of undisputed fact they WERE police officers and they had every right to be where they were. They received a call, summarized in the first paragraph of this post. They surveilled the outside looking for anything suspicious. When Dean turned toward the window Jefferson was pointing a gun directly at him. He had a right to be where he was and was confronted with a dramatic escalation, the threat to use deadly force. Confronted with imminent death or great bodily harm Dean had every right to shoot Ms. Jefferson.
From USAToday:
Authorities released an arrest warrant in which Jefferson's 8-year-old nephew says his aunt pointed a gun at the window after they heard suspicious noises outside.
Again, that fact is game, set, no-action.
There's no indication Dean could see the gun, and his bodycam video showed the view through the window obstructed by the reflection from his flashlight. The arrest warrant also cites Dean's partner as saying she could only see Jefferson's face through the window.
This is something in FWPD's favor but it is ultimately far short of making this an unlawful homicide. That is, if Dean could not see that Jefferson had a gun--USAToday does not say the affidavit claims Dean could not see a gun--it says "There is no indication from the body cam that Dean could see a gun” because Dean's flashlight glared out what the body cam could capture, but that does not mean that Dean's vision was obstructed as the body cam was. It is something that Dean's partner says he "could only see Jefferson's face." "Could only” means the partner's vision was obstructed, by angle, by Dean, by reflection, who knows.
What we are left with on this admittedly and maddeningly incomplete information is,
1) Ms Johnson had a gun within reach. There is no dispute on this. The gun was recovered on scene.
2) Ms Johnson was indisputably in a place, her home, where of course she had a right to be.
3) Officer Dean and his partner were not acting as vigilantes, they were dispatched pursuant to a call from a neighbor that a door was open and there were lights on inside--at 2:30 a.m.
4) Dean and his partner had a right and duty to be where they were.
5) An eight year-old boy, Jefferson's nephew, said Jefferson pointed her gun at the window where Officer Dean was outside.
On this information alone as the only information available to me at least, Officer Aaron Dean's police shooting of Atatiana Jefferson is JUSTIFIED. Justified. On the evidence available to me tonight Aaron Dean has been WRONGFULLY ACCUSED OF MURDER in the shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson.
I am,
BENJAMIN HARRIS.
This is Public Occurrences.
