Attorney's representing Aaron Dean, the former Fort Worth police officer found guilty of manslaughter last year in the 2019 death of Atatiana Jefferson, filed a motion Wednesday requesting a new trial and for him to be released from state jail on bond.
Dean, a white police officer, fatally shot the 28-year-old Black woman in her home on Oct. 12, 2019, while investigating an open structure call. Dean entered the backyard and said when he looked through a window he saw a silhouette of a person and the barrel of a gun. Dean fired once, fatally wounding the woman on the other side of the glass.
Dean was convicted in Jefferson's death on Dec. 15, 2022, when a Tarrant County jury rejected a murder charge in favor of a lesser charge of manslaughter. Five days later the same jury sentenced him to 11 years, 10 months and 12 days in state prison.
The motion filed Tuesday evening by attorney Bob Gill asks 396th District Court Judge George Gallagher to grant Dean a new trial "because the verdict is contrary to the law and the evidence."
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Gill also asked that Dean be "restored to the position of the case before trial." Dean was free on bond before and during the trial but was taken into custody after he was convicted.
Earlier this month Gallagher granted Dean's attorneys access to juror information that will allow them to investigate the panel after learning one of them may have posted a message online seeking opinions about the trial while the trial was still underway. The defense said in their motion, "if this social media post is attributable to one of the jurors in this case, and the juror received information, the defendant would be entitled to a new trial." Defense attorneys obtained a copy of the social media post purportedly posted by one of the jurors and offered it for the record before Dean was sentenced.
It's not immediately clear what Dean's attorneys learned in their investigation.
Dean's attorneys also suggested the jury's unconventional sentence in the case may also be the result of misconduct. Prosecutors and family members guessed the sentence may have been symbolic of the age of Jefferson's nephew at the time of her slaying and of the month and date of her death.
Dean is currently being housed at the Ramsey Unit in Rosharon, about 25 miles south of Houston.
