Alex Briseno The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas — The Botham Jean Act received final passage from the Texas House on Friday, one day after narrowly beating the first major midnight deadline of the 87th Legislature.
DeSoto Democratic state Rep. Carl O. Sherman’s proposal, also known as Bo’s Law, is named after Botham Jean, a Dallas man who was killed inside his apartment by Amber Guyger, an off-duty police officer in 2018.
The bill looks to create a policy to require officers equipped with body-worn cameras to keep them activated for the entirety of their participation in an investigation. Bo’s Law cleared the House with a 108-34 vote just one day after narrowly beating the first major deadline late Thursday night with roughly 45 minutes to spare.
After Friday’s passage, the legislation now seeks approval from the Senate before it would go to Gov. Greg Abbott.
Sherman said Bo’s Law is more about more “systemic accountability” in policing, adding that the bipartisan support was a “watershed” moment.
“We want to make sure all the evidence is there to uphold the integrity of policing as a profession and not redact or edit out footage,” Sherman said in a press release. “In keeping with the spirit of the young man who HB 929 was named after ‘Let the spirit of Botham Jean continue to rise among us.'”
Sherman said the bill number, HB 929, was a request from Jean’s mother in honor of Bo’s Sept. 29 birthday and was honored by Republican Speaker Dade Phelan.
Sherman’s proposal ran up close to the midnight deadline Thursday, meaning if it wasn’t taken up for a vote, it would have joined the hundreds of other bills that failed to beat the buzzer and died as a result. He said he remained optimistic throughout the day.
In the final hour, at 11:15 p.m., Sherman was recognized to lay out the bill.
Republican state Reps. Tony Tinderholt of Arlington and Matt Schaefer of Tyler voiced concern over the definition of when an investigation begins and ends.
“This came through our committee, I didn’t support it and I really appreciate you making a lot of changes,” Tinderholt said, while asking Sherman to consider an amendment that would allow officers to turn off their bodycam after they make entry and the area is secure.
Democratic state Rep. Ann Johnson,of Houston, who is as a former chief human trafficking prosecutor in Harris County, disagreed with Tinderholt, arguing that body cameras allow prosecutors to protect both sides.
“Even now, today, I do defense work and when I get a bodycam video, it might have hours on it. And that’s a good thing,” Johnson said. “Because those hours of bodycam video give us the chance to not only protect the accused, but also to protect law enforcement. When they have done it right, they have got that bodycam there.”
Sherman assured Johnson that it is his intention to follow law enforcement policy such as still allowing body-worn cameras to be turned off when an officer uses the restroom and when they call their district attorney, while also ensuring that the true facts are all being shown.
During conversations with The Dallas Morning News throughout the session, Sherman, whose youngest son is an officer, said this isn’t a “gotcha” bill, noting that he has worked both across the aisle and with law enforcement agencies during the drafting of the proposal.
“This is not about police versus protesters or citizens, this is really just about trying to make sure that we create an environment for good officers,” Sherman said in April. “Good officers want us to do this. They want us to stop allowing shields for bad officers to remain.”
As originally filed, Bo’s Law also sought to clarify the “Castle Doctrine,” which states that somebody may use lethal force to protect themselves against another person if they have illegally entered their home, car or business. That provision ultimately was removed in the House.
State law provides for a justifiable defense at trial if lethal force was thought to be immediately necessary, they had a legal right to be on the property, did not provoke the intruder and was not engaged in criminal activity.
Due to Guyger’s claim that she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own, the defense argued that the Castle Doctrine should apply.
The provision in the original bill would clarify the doctrine by preventing it from being invoked by people who “recklessly” or “maliciously” enter and kill a person in their own home.
It also created an offense for intentionally deactivating body-worn, in-car, vehicle or security camera that officers know is being used for an investigation. A committee substitute stripped its provisions on the Castle Doctrine and the created offense, opting to focus on body-worn cameras.
“I am thankful that we are continuing to work from a place of bi-partisanship and that we have found a common ground to move Bo’s Law into law in the State of Texas. I also want to thank House Speaker Dade Phelan for his support,” Sherman concluded.
The House’s passage comes as Sherman and Dallas community members push to commemorate Jean. In March, Jean’s family was joined by Sherman, Mayor Eric Johnson and other city leaders as they unveiled Botham Jean Boulevard, which stretches in front of Dallas police headquarters.
“When you’re driving to Dallas, if you may not be familiar with the area and you have to put in the address, it will say his name — that is huge,” Sherman said.
” … And to see his family there, to know that Bo loved Dallas — he loved the state of Texas — you know, he left a mark here.
Whenever they come to visit Dallas they will always be able to come and look up and see their son’s name.”
