What to Know
- The case was transferred to a new court after the defense says the previous judge was hostile and rude.
- The new judge says pretrial hearings will begin on Nov. 16, jury selection on Nov. 28 and the trial will begin on Dec. 5.
- Requests to move the trial out of Tarrant County were previously denied.
The trial for the former Fort Worth police officer accused of murdering a woman in her own house has been rescheduled for December.
The former officer, Aaron Dean, was arrested a few days after he shot Atatiana Jefferson through a window in her backyard as he responded to a neighbor’s report of an open door at her home in October 2019.
Jefferson was home playing video games with her young nephew when a neighbor called police reporting her front door was open, which he found unusual. She apparently thought Dean was an intruder in her backyard and she grabbed a gun, police said at the time. The officer was in uniform but did not announce himself, the bodycam video showed.
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Dean was indicted in Jefferson's murder in December 2019. Since that time the trial has been delayed by the pandemic and then rescheduled several times due to unavailable witnesses or counsel.
The scheduling order for Judge George Gallagher's court was filed Thursday. Pretrial hearings will begin on Nov. 16, jury selection will begin Nov. 28, after the Thanksgiving holiday, and the trial will begin on Monday, Dec. 5.
AARON DEAN MURDER TRIAL
Gallagher's 396th District Court was assigned the case after Dean’s attorneys asked for a new judge earlier this summer. The defense attorneys said then Judge David Hagerman had grown increasingly hostile, overbearing and rude toward them.
Dean’s attorneys lost a bid to move the case out of Tarrant County.
A gag order is in effect in the case, barring participants from commenting publicly.
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