Former DPD Officer Amber Guyger Appears in Court, Trial Date Set

A trial date has been set for former Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger.

She's been charged with murder in connection to the 2018 shooting death of Botham Jean.

According to court records, the trial will begin Aug. 12.

Guyger and her attorneys made a brief appearance at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas Monday morning for an "announcement hearing" --  which is more or less an opportunity for defense attorneys to meet with prosecutors in private to discuss possible evidence or any other matters related to the case.

Because a gag order is in place, they could not comment on what was discussed.

The judge presiding over the case, however, indicated in open court that she would meet with them to get a trial date on the calendar.

Guyger is accused of shooting and killing Jean in his own home in September 2018. 

She claims she mistook his apartment for her's (she lived in the same complex) and thought he was an intruder. He was unarmed.

Guyger was initially arrested on a manslaughter charge, but a Dallas County grand jury returned an indictment for murder after it reviewed the evidence.

NBC 5 obtained court documents related to the case that could prove to be crucial, including how many hours of overtime Guyger worked in the month, weeks and the exact day of the fatal shooting.

On Sept. 6, 2018, Dallas police records show Guyger worked nearly 14 hours, including being approved to work more than five hours of overtime.

That day she began working at 8 a.m. and was to end her shift at 4 p.m.

However, Guyger requested and was approved to work until 9:45 p.m. that night.

The last place she was reported to have been working was the jail.

The shooting happened soon after Guyger arrived home, according to police.

Leading up to the day of the shooting, Guyger's approved overtime was for between one and four hours of work on a given day.

The day before the deadly shooting, she worked two hours and 30 minutes of overtime.

Criminal defense attorney Heath Harris, who is also a former prosecutor, is not associated with the case, but believes Guyger's overtime hours are important for both sides.

"You want an accurate assessment of what her condition was on the night of the shooting. So both sides want it," he said.

Harris believes it is especially vital for her defense.

"Absolutely, it's going to help the defense," he said. "If she worked 13 hours that day, that's going to corroborate that she could've possibly been tired and she could have been fatigued to the point where she did make the mistake of going to the wrong apartment."

The state also subpoenaed the cruise ship company Royal Caribbean to submit records "pertaining to all cruises taken by Guyger" between Sept. 23, 2018, and March 4, 2019; beginning two weeks after Jean's death.

Prosecutors stated the information "is considered material to the state."

If Guyger did go on a cruise, timing would be important.

Beginning in November 2018, the judge stated Guyger was to surrender her passport to her attorney and was not to travel outside Texas without the court's approval.

It is unknown at this point if that will be an issue. f not, Harris warns against the court of public opinion.

"Some people might say, 'Oh, she's not showing any remorse. Oh, she's not doing this or not doing.' However, she is citizen accused. There's still what they call a presumption of innocence," he said. "The fact that someone would need to get away to try and regather yourself, to prepare yourself for this type of legal battle I don't think, you can spin it however you want to, but there's nothing unusual about that.”

NBC 5's Larry Collins and Tim Ciesco contributed to this report.