The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Officer guilty of manslaughter
Jury returns verdict in fatal shooting of Black motorist in Minnesota.
Jurors on Thursday convicted a suburban Minneapolis police officer of two manslaughter charges in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black motorist she shot during a traffic stop after she said she confused her gun for her Taser.
The mostly white jury deliberated for about four days before finding former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter guilty of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter. Potter, 49, faces about seven years in prison on the most serious count under the state’s sentencing guidelines, but prosecutors said they would seek a longer term.
Judge Regina Chu ordered Potter taken into custody and held without bail. Sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 18.
Potter, who testified that she “didn’t want to hurt anybody,” looked down without showing any visible reaction when the verdicts were read.
Potter’s attorneys argued against her being held without bail, saying she would not commit another crime or go anywhere.
“Her remorse and regret for the incident is overwhelming,” attorney Paul Engh argued. “She’s not a danger to the public whatsoever.”
Chu rejected their arguments, saying, “I cannot treat this case any differently than any other case.”
Potter, who is white, shot and killed Wright during an April 11 traffic stop in Brooklyn Center as she and other officers were trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant for a weapons possession charge. The shooting occurred at a time of high tension in the area, with former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin standing trial just miles away for the killing of George Floyd. Potter resigned two days later.
Jurors saw video of the shooting that was captured by police body cameras and dashcams. It showed Potter and an officer she was training, Anthony Luckey, pull over Wright for having expired license plates and an air freshener hanging from his rear-view mirror. During the stop, Luckey discovered there was a warrant for Wright’s arrest for not appearing in court on the weapons possession charge. Luckey, Potter and another officer went to take Wright into custody.
Wright, 20, obeyed Luckey’s order to get out of his car, but as Luckey tried to handcuff him, Wright pulled away and got back in. As Luckey held onto Wright, Potter said, “I’ll tase you.” The video then shows Potter holding her gun in her right hand and pointing it at Wright. Again, Potter said, “I’ll tase you,” and then two seconds later: “Taser, Taser, Taser.” One second later, she fired a single bullet into Wright’s chest.
“(Expletive)! I just shot him. ... I grabbed the wrong (expletive) gun,” Potter said. A minute later, she said: “I’m going to go to prison.”
In sometimes tearful testimony, Potter told jurors the traffic stop “just went chaotic” and that she shouted her warning about the Taser after she saw a look of fear on the face of Sgt. Mychal Johnson, who was leaning into the passenger-side door of Wright’s car.
Potter’s lawyers argued that she made a mistake by drawing her gun instead of her Taser. But they also said she would have been justified in using deadly force because Johnson was at risk of being dragged.