Mr. Bishop

What are some of your thoughts on the case?

Tragic, very strange case. When I first heard about it I thought it will be hard to figure out what actually happened. I still feel this way for the most part.

Do you think if the roles were reversed (An African American officer shooting a Caucasian woman) the sentencing would be the same?

This is very difficult to say. Like I said, this was a very strange case with many questions, like why the officer didn’t realize she was in the wrong apartment and how could she ignore all of the things that would have alerted her to the fact that she was in the wrong apartment. I think those questions still loom large in people’s minds, and I think they make it hard to completely judge the defendant, i.e. the officer, even if the officer was African-American. Generally, males are treated harsher than females, so if it were a male officer that was African-American perhaps the sentencing would be harsher, but I can’t say for sure.

Do you believe that with Amber Gruyger’s sentence justice was served?

I hate to keep saying that it’s hard to say, but that’s how I truly feel. Being found guilty of murder means that she intended to kill Jean, which I think is accurate and therefore she should serve the required sentence for that. However, I am having a hard time believing that that is why she entered his apartment. At some point she made a decision to kill him and she has to be accountable, but if someone entered another person’s apartment with the sole purpose of killing that person, then they should receive the maximum penalty. Guyger received the minimum sentence for her crime, which may be appropriate. Again, it is a very strange case and I still have many questions.