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According to the linked article below it was not dispatched as a wellness call but as an open structure. I read about this on Twitter today from Amy Swearer, a Senior Legal Policy Analyst at Heritage Foundation. She correctly points out that he still violated department policies on use of force and de-escalation. But this does seem to explain why the two officers approached the way they did. I'm sure that will also play in the defense strategy against the charge of murder.

Fort Worth Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus told reporters on Tuesday that Dean was responding to an “open structure call” when he opened fire on Atatiana Jefferson and killed her.

An “open structure” or “open door call” is much different than a wellness check, Michael “Britt” London, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, told the outlet.

With an “open structure” call, officers are typically on higher alert, as reports could vary from a door accidentally being left unlocked to something more serious like a burglary.

https://people.com/crime/officer-shot-a ... rm=7371483


Not to hijack the thread, but if you don't know who Amy Swearer is, you need to see her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee at the hearing on "Protecting America from Assault Weapons". She decimated the gun grabbers which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9AfhdKLNDA

Unless I missed it somewhere in this thread, a coworker of mine said that he'd seen somewhere that this officer does not have a great history with the FWPD and was reportedly not far from being fired anyway for various reasons. Has someone already brought that up here?

rtschl wrote: Fri Oct 18, 2019 3:37 pm According to the linked article below it was not dispatched as a wellness call but as an open structure. I read about this on Twitter today from Amy Swearer, a Senior Legal Policy Analyst at Heritage Foundation. She correctly points out that he still violated department policies on use of force and de-escalation. But this does seem to explain why the two officers approached the way they did. I'm sure that will also play in the defense strategy against the charge of murder.

Fort Worth Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus told reporters on Tuesday that Dean was responding to an “open structure call” when he opened fire on Atatiana Jefferson and killed her.

An “open structure” or “open door call” is much different than a wellness check, Michael “Britt” London, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, told the outlet.

With an “open structure” call, officers are typically on higher alert, as reports could vary from a door accidentally being left unlocked to something more serious like a burglary.

https://people.com/crime/officer-shot-a ... rm=7371483


Not to hijack the thread, but if you don't know who Amy Swearer is, you need to see her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee at the hearing on "Protecting America from Assault Weapons". She decimated the gun grabbers which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9AfhdKLNDA

That does at least explain why they responded the way they did. There is still no good reason for the officer to shoot the woman through her window before she even had a chance to know it was cops and not some back yard thugs. invading her home.

I have never heard of the Texas Rangers declining to investigate a shooting involving an officer. The Chief in Ft. Worth said that the Texas Rangers declined to investigate. Does anyone have a thought to why that is or has anyone ever heard them declining to investigate before?

carlson1 wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 10:52 am I have never heard of the Texas Rangers declining to investigate a shooting involving an officer. The Chief in Ft. Worth said that the Texas Rangers declined to investigate. Does anyone have a thought to why that is or has anyone ever heard them declining to investigate before?

The only reason I can think of is if it has become an open and shut case. Maybe the Ft Worth department is handing this in such a way that the Texas Rangers see no need to get involved at this point. I would be willing to bet that there have been other cases that they saw no need to investigate.

03Lightningrocks wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 11:02 am

carlson1 wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 10:52 am I have never heard of the Texas Rangers declining to investigate a shooting involving an officer. The Chief in Ft. Worth said that the Texas Rangers declined to investigate. Does anyone have a thought to why that is or has anyone ever heard them declining to investigate before?

The only reason I can think of is if it has become an open and shut case. Maybe the Ft Worth department is handing this in such a way that the Texas Rangers see no need to get involved at this point. I would be willing to bet that there have been other cases that they saw no need to investigate.

Maybe they are waiting till after the election to investigate the murder of a couple in their home in Houston in the “botched” drug raid.

https://news.yahoo.com/texas-ex-police- ... 09428.html

Officer indicted for murder.

New story, but it seems old news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhsyCwzCLaY

Somebody got the video of Aaron Dean's hiring interview and put this video together. He said he likes action and adventure, wishes he joined the military and see being a police officer as a way to do some of the same things without having to go overseas. I'm not sure if the prosecution can or would use this, but I think it paints the guy in a worse light.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/nati ... n-in-home/

Former officer on trial.

Cautionary tale about having your gun exposed inside your house and making sure your front door is latched at night.

This happened so long ago, I had almost forgotten about it. Just now going to trial? Wow... that is a pretty long wait. Should be interesting to see how it shakes out in the end.

Officer found guilty of manslaughter

https://news.yahoo.com/jury-finds-fort- ... 15602.html

I still have a lot of mixed feelings on this case. I personally listened to a radio broadcast of the officer testifying live. He said that she pointed a laser on her gun at him. He testified that he had trouble turning the laser off after he got her gun. Some of reports said that he saw her silhouette with a gun in her hand.

chasfm11 wrote: Thu Dec 15, 2022 6:11 pm Officer found guilty of manslaughter

https://news.yahoo.com/jury-finds-fort- ... 15602.html

I still have a lot of mixed feelings on this case. I personally listened to a radio broadcast of the officer testifying live. He said that she pointed a laser on her gun at him. He testified that he had trouble turning the laser off after he got her gun. Some of reports said that he saw her silhouette with a gun in her hand.

What's the mixed feeling? Both were testified to and both were supported by the fact pattern. The problem a lot of people have is she wasn't a bad guy. There weren't any "bad guys" in this instant. Sadly, that happens regularly. The facts, including Dean's testimony would back up her justified use of force if she was the one left standing.

My problem was the ungodly malpractice by the prosecutors and a feckless defense. Watching this and a few other trials gavel to gavel scared the daylights out of me. I dropped the trigger on some insurance.

Dragonfighter wrote: Sat Dec 17, 2022 10:00 am

chasfm11 wrote: Thu Dec 15, 2022 6:11 pm Officer found guilty of manslaughter

https://news.yahoo.com/jury-finds-fort- ... 15602.html

I still have a lot of mixed feelings on this case. I personally listened to a radio broadcast of the officer testifying live. He said that she pointed a laser on her gun at him. He testified that he had trouble turning the laser off after he got her gun. Some of reports said that he saw her silhouette with a gun in her hand.

What's the mixed feeling? Both were testified to and both were supported by the fact pattern. The problem a lot of people have is she wasn't a bad guy. There weren't any "bad guys" in this instant. Sadly, that happens regularly. The facts, including Dean's testimony would back up her justified use of force if she was the one left standing.

My problem was the ungodly malpractice by the prosecutors and a feckless defense. Watching this and a few other trials gavel to gavel scared the daylights out of me. I dropped the trigger on some insurance.

You are right to be scared, Dragonfighter. Both the prosecution and the defense grossly misrepresented Texas law in their closing arguments. The defense did not object to the many misrepresentations of Texas law by the prosecution during the case, so there is little grounds for appeal. As attorney Andrew Branca (Law of Self Defense) says, even the innocent have a 10% chance of conviction by a jury. Effective representation is essential to maintaining one's freedom.

Dragonfighter wrote: Sat Dec 17, 2022 10:00 am

What's the mixed feeling? Both were testified to and both were supported by the fact pattern. The problem a lot of people have is she wasn't a bad guy. There weren't any "bad guys" in this instant. Sadly, that happens regularly. The facts, including Dean's testimony would back up her justified use of force if she was the one left standing.

My problem was the ungodly malpractice by the prosecutors and a feckless defense. Watching this and a few other trials gavel to gavel scared the daylights out of me. I dropped the trigger on some insurance.

The mixed feeling is that she, like Jerry Waller, were in their homes doing nothing wrong and both ended up dead at the hands of a police officer. To believe that is OK is to believe that there is not a reason for someone to have a self-defense handgun on the outside chance that a police officer will show up at their house and kill them because of it.
1. The police have operate on the premise that the home owner might be legally armed if there is not a direct reason to KNOW otherwise. The suspicion of a POSSIBLE burglary is not sufficient Was the chance of catching a burglar in the act worth an innocent person's life? That as exactly the same premise as Waller.
2. The police testimony in the Waller case was as iron clad as it was in this one. Unfortunately, there is no badge came (at least that I've seen or heard about) to corroborate those statements. I'm sorry but to believe that she was well versed in the use of a laser and he didn't enve know how to turn that laser off is a stretch of imagination for me.

Like others on this forum, I'm a strong supporter of the police. That does not mean that I agree with every thing that they do. I imagine myself in this same situation as this woman that that scares me.