Dallas, Oct 10 (AP/UNB) — Evidence from the trial of a former Dallas police officer convicted of killing her neighbor has fueled new questions about whether accused officers are treated differently than other suspects, including testimony that a camera in the cruiser where the officer sat after the shooting was flipped off and that her sexual text messages with her partner were deleted.

Even as Amber Guyger begins her 10-year prison sentence for murder in Botham Jean's September 2018 death, testimony in her case has prompted demands for the head of a police union to step down. It also has led Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall to announce the internal affairs department would look into the deleted texts and deactivated camera. The Dallas County District Attorney's Office declined to comment Wednesday on whether it is also investigating.

Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata said Wednesday that he was guarding Guyger's rights when he had another officer shut off the camera in a police car where Guyger waited after the shooting.

Guyger and her partner, Martin Rivera, both acknowledged from the witness stand that they deleted text messages following Jean's death about their on-and-off relationship. Prosecutors managed to recover the texts and argued that the white officer was distracted by the explicit messages she exchanged with Rivera soon before she walked into her black neighbor's apartment, which she said she thought was her own. Guyger testified that she mistook the 26-year-old accountant from the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia for an intruder before shooting him.

Raising the 31-year-old officer's sexual text messages with her partner, Mata said, was prosecutors' "attempt to slut shame her."

Some Dallas residents' deep mistrust of their police has been on display since Guyger's trial ended.

The first meeting of a new Community Police Oversight Committee ended with shoving and shouting Tuesday night when the panel adjourned without taking public comment. Hall intervened and opened the floor to discussion, much of it critical of the department and mistrustful of the committee's intensions.

And conspiracy theories have swirled around the death of a witness in Guyger's trial, who was shot dead two days after her sentencing. Investigators said Tuesday that the killing of Joshua Brown, who like Jean was black, was unrelated to his testimony and that they suspect three Louisiana men , who were allegedly in Dallas to buy drugs.

Lee Merritt, a lawyer who represents the Jean and Brown families, said he has no reason to doubt Dallas detectives' conclusions. But he's asking the department to turn the investigation of Brown's death over to another agency.

"It will be nearly impossible to conduct a reliable investigation in a climate where the investigating agency has been implicated in the murder itself," Merritt said Tuesday. "That implication naturally stems from a trial where a Dallas police officer was convicted of murder and other DPD officers were shown to have participated in condemnable behavior in destroying evidence and interfering with an investigation."

Mata said the text messages were not related to the shooting and prosecutors only brought them up at Guyger's trial to put "the scarlet letter on her as a person involved in adultery." Rivera was married; Guyger was not.

As for the car camera, Mata said he did nothing wrong by having it turned off.

"She was talking with her attorney, and that's attorney-client privilege," Mata said. "(The lead prosecutor) pushed this narrative to make it look like the department was corrupt and I was corrupt and unethical. It's a win-at-all-costs type of mentality." 

Dr. Brian Williams, the former head of the Dallas' police oversight board, said the actions revealed at trial further eroded trust for police that already is thin in the community.

"When you're working to try to build trust things like that do not work to the advantage of bringing both parties together," he said.

Last week, the Jean family stood with Dallas activists and religious leaders asking the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a "comprehensive audit" of what they characterized as long-standing problems with the city police department.

The Justice Department under former President Barack Obama opened wide-ranging investigations into more than 20 local law enforcement agencies it said had a pattern of civil rights violations, including departments in Baltimore, Chicago and Ferguson, Missouri. These probes typically ended with court-enforceable consent decrees that commit the department to making changes recommended by the federal government.

Under the Trump administration, the department has taken a sharply different approach, pulling back from such sprawling investigations. But its civil rights division has continued to pursue investigations involving police shootings and other alleged misconduct.

When looking at a police shooting, investigators will start with a different set of assumptions than they would in a shooting involving only civilians, said Bowling Green State University criminologist Philip Stinson, a former lawyer and police officer. He said one of the most important steps a department can take to foster community trust in such cases is to bring in an outside agency to investigate.

In Guyger's case, it was the Texas Rangers who led the investigation. Stinson said it's important to keep in mind that the former officer was convicted and sentenced to prison.

"I think that the community is right to push for transparency and for the Dallas police department to improve," he said. "But don't lose sight of the fact that justice has been served."
 

Dhaka, Oct 10 (UNB) – Bangladesh’s capital saw a significant improvement in the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Thursday morning after it was hit by rain.

Dhaka was at the 40th position in AQI with a score of 65 at 8:21am. The air quality was moderate.

Delhi topped the list of cities with worst air quality with a score of 195. It was followed by Vietnam’s Hanoi and Indonesia’s Jakarta with scores of 186 and 173 respectively.

The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.

When an AQI score is between 51 and 100, sensitive individuals should avoid outdoor activity as they may experience respiratory symptoms.

Savar, Oct 9 (UNB) – Illegal gas connections of about  2,000 families were removed on Wednesday in a drive carried out at Ashulia in Savar by Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited.

The Titas authority conducted the drive at Sreepur, Konda, Notun Nogor, Jirani and Tenguri College Road of Ashulia from afternoon to evening.

The drive was led by Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem, Managing Engineer of Savar Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited. A team of about 80 took part in the drive. Besides, members of the law enforcing agencies accompanied the Titas officials.

Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem informed that “Our drive will be conducted regularly and all the illegal gas connections will be disconnected gradually.”

Md Mohiuddin Ahmed, Deputy Manager of Savar Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, was present during the drive.

Dhaka, Oct 9 (UNB) - Road, Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader is going to Singapore for his follow-up treatment on Thursday.

He is scheduled to depart Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Singapore Airlines flight on 1:25pm.

Earlier, he underwent a bypass surgery at Mount Elizabeth Hospital on March 20.

Dhaka, Oct 9 (UNB) – A court here on Wednesday issued a warrant for the arrest of Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus in three cases filed over sacking three employees of Grameen Communications.

Chairman of the 3rd Dhaka Labour Court Rahibul Islam issued the warrant as Yunus did not appear before the court responding to its order issued on Wednesday.

Yunus’ lawyer Raju Ahmed said his client could not appear before the court as he is currently abroad for business purpose.

Two other accused – Naznin Sultana, Managing Director, and Khandakar Abu Abedin, Deputy Managing Director of Grameen Communications, secured bail as they appeared before the court.
      
On July 3, three employees of Grameen Communications filed the cases against them with the Labour Court while the court asked them to appear before it on October 8.

According to the case statements, the trio was terminated from Grameen Communications as they tried to form a trade union at their workplace.