Former police officer at the Brooklyn Center, Minn. -old Daunte Wright, who was shot and killed by her after stopping the car.
Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office / Getty Images
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Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office / Getty Images
Former police officer at the Brooklyn Center, Minn. -old Daunte Wright, who was shot and killed by her after stopping the car.
Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office / Getty Images
Jury selection began Tuesday during the trial of Kim Potter, a former police officer from Central Brooklyn, Minn., who said she mistook her handgun for a Taser when she fired it. die one A 20-year-old black man named Daunte Wright in April.
Potter, who is white, faces two charges of manslaughter. Her criminal trial is expected to begin in early December.
Both the prosecutor and defense attorney agreed the shooting was an accident. But prosecutors, led by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, said Potter’s actions were criminally negligent.
Defense attorneys argued that because Wright was resisting arrest, the use of force was authorized and Potter was not aware she was holding her gun and was therefore innocent.
The shooting occurred as the Minneapolis area was competing with the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who murdered George Floyd. His trial then took place about 10 miles away. After Wright was killed, the days Massive protest Downtown Brooklyn, a diverse suburb located just across the city border from Minneapolis.
The judge said the opening session is expected to begin on Wednesday, December 8. The trial is expected to end on Christmas Eve. Potter will likely testify in her own defense, her attorney suggested during Tuesday’s jury selection.
Here’s what you need to know:
The shooting on April 11, 2021
On the afternoon of April 11, Potter was training a new officer. Together, they pass a white Buick. According to his family, Wright was driving, and his girlfriend was in the passenger seat.
The intern, Anthony Luckey, told Wright he was stopped because the air freshener was hanging from his rearview mirror – a minor traffic violation in Minnesota – and because his license plate tab was missing. expired, according to the criminal complaint.
During the stopover, officers discovered that a warrant for Wright’s arrest for not appearing in court on a weapon charge stemmed from an incident in which he evaded police the previous summer.
After finding the warrant, Luckey asked Wright to get out of the car. But when Luckey tried to handcuff him, Wright backed away and tried to back into the car.
When Potter shouted a warning that she was going to use her Taser, she pulled out her pistol and fired one shot, striking Wright to his left side.
Less than a minute had passed from the moment Wright was asked to get out of the car to the moment Potter opened fire.
The bullet pierced both Wright’s lungs and heart, killing him. He was pronounced dead at the scene minutes later.
Potter says she intends to use her Taser, and her body camera footage will be key evidence
The crux of the trial will be footage from Potter’s body-worn camera, capturing the entire incident. Police released the footage in the days following the shooting.
The video clearly shows Wright’s attempt to escape capture. Wright was forced into the driver’s side door behind when Luckey tried to handcuff him. Potter stepped forward to assist, but Wright jerked his arm and backed into the driver’s seat.
In the video, Potter can be heard shouting, “I’ll tease you” and “Taser, Taser, Taser!” when she pulls out her gun and shoots.
Then, while her body-worn camera was still recording, Potter said, “S***!” and “I just shot him.” According to prosecutors, she remarked to another officer that she had “wrongly picked up the gun” and that she was “going to jail.”
Potter has a bright yellow plastic Taser on his left hip and a 9mm Glock pistol on his right, according to the criminal complaint.
During his 26 years of service, Potter received “a substantial amount” of training related to Taser, prosecutors said, including two courses dedicated to Taser in the six months before the shooting.
What charges does Potter face?
Potter’s face two numbers: first degree manslaughter and second degree manslaughter.
Initially, prosecutors were only looking for lesser charges. But in September, prosecutors added a charge of first-degree manslaughter.
In Minnesota, a person can be found guilty of first-degree manslaughter if they cause the death of another person while also committing a misdemeanor – in this case reckless handling of a gun. In contrast, second-degree manslaughter requires prosecutors to prove only that the defendant acted with “reproachable negligence” because the defendant knowingly committed the actions that created an “unreasonable risk.” ” cause death or great bodily harm.
Defense attorneys asked Judge Regina Chu to dismiss the more serious charge, but Chu rejected their recommendation, saying that prosecutors had successfully determined probable cause to charge her.
The charges carry maximum sentences of 15 years and 10 years, respectively. But prosecutors have also asked the judge to consider a stronger sentence than usual if Potter is found guilty.
Only two Minnesota police officers have been convicted of killing a civilian in the line of duty. The first was Mohamed Noor, a black Somali-American officer was convicted of manslaughter for killing Justine Damond, a white woman.
The second is Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd and Sentenced on two counts of murder and one count of second-degree manslaughter.
The mistake of officers using a gun instead of a Taser is rare but not unheard of. In 2010, a former police officer named Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after fatally shooting Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old black man, at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, California. Mehserle said during the criminal trial that he intended to use his Taser.
The case involves hot issues and is expected to be followed
Like other criminal trials this year dealing with criminal justice matters – the trials of Derek Chauvin, Kyle Rittenhouse, the murderers of Ahmaud Arbery – Potter’s trial was expected by many.
Cameras will be allowed into the courthouse, the judge has ruled. The trial is likely to be broadcast live by local and national media.
In fact, every potential juror told the court Tuesday they had heard about the shooting, which happened because the Minneapolis area was already unsettled about Chauvin’s trial.
Many people watched the footage on camera and some expressed strong opinions about Potter or Wright.
In addition to the facts about the case, prosecutors and defense attorneys tried to uncover jurors’ bias by asking them about their feelings about race and policy: Do they believe people Are blacks and whites treated differently in the criminal justice system? How do they feel about owning a gun or taking down a police officer? How do they feel about the racial justice protests that occurred in Minneapolis after the killing of George Floyd and the property damage that followed?
Several juries sat on Tuesday, including a special education teacher and a manager at a Target distribution center.
