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A Dallas County grand jury on Tuesday declined to indict Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata over allegations of evidence tampering in Amber Guyger’s case, WFAA-TV (Channel 8) reported.
Robert Rogers, an attorney for Mata, confirmed the grand jury’s decision to WFAA.
“Their decision not to indict just confirms what we have known since September of 2018 — Mike Mata did nothing wrong,” Rogers said in a statement to the station.
Rogers couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Tuesday evening. Mata declined to comment when reached by phone.
During Guyger’s murder trial, prosecutors argued she was given special treatment the night she fatally shot 26-year-old Botham Jean in his Cedars apartment because she was a police officer.
Testimony during the trial revealed that Mata told his subordinate to shut off her in-car camera system so he and Guyger could speak in private.
Rogers, who defended Guyger during the trial, said that Guyger was waiting for an attorney and that Mata was protecting her right to an attorney.
Activists had called for Mata’s resignation over the testimony about what happened the night of Sept. 6, 2018. He defended his actions after the trial and said at the time that he welcomed an internal investigation.
“I welcome it and want a thorough investigation of all parties who were at the scene that night,” Mata said then. “And when this investigation is done, it will show that I violated no policy and I did the standard practice that has been in place for several years.”
Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall said in a written statement Wednesday morning that she hopes the grand jury decision helps Jean’s family and the city find closure.
“Following Amber Guyger’s murder trial, DPD’s public integrity unit conducted a thorough and exhaustive investigation into the events that occurred the night Botham Jean died,” she said. “The community deserved answers to questions raised during the trial. We delivered all the information from our investigation to the district attorney’s office. The final decision lies with the grand jury.”
Guyger, 31, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison.