EXPLAINER: What's behind 'sordid' evidence at Potter trial?

MINNEAPOLIS – After prosecutors spent astir a time reconstructing the moments aft a suburban Minneapolis constabulary serviceman changeable and killed Daunte Wright, 1 of her attorneys had heard enough. Paul Engh asked for a mistrial, decrying the “sordid pictures” that helium said were irrelevant and were shown repeatedly to inflame the jury's sympathies.

But those details and the grounds of secondary witnesses, which whitethorn not straight impact whether the assemblage finds erstwhile Brooklyn Center Officer Kim Potter blameworthy oregon acquits her, are portion of a bigger-picture prosecution strategy to not lone convict her of manslaughter, but to nonstop her to situation for a longer term than she could get otherwise.

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Minnesota judges indispensable travel authorities sentencing guidelines with a scope that offers small leeway without having to explicate their reasons. If prosecutors privation to get a condemnation longer than the scope allows, they person to transportation a justice that aggravating factors warrant a tougher sentence. And that's what authoritative Matthew Frank said helium was doing.

Frank and his chap prosecutors connected Thursday presented a watercourse of officers, exigency aesculapian workers and civilians who gave extended details — accompanied by sometimes graphic videos and photos — astir what happened successful the minutes betwixt Potter shooting Wright and paramedics declaring him dormant astatine the country wherever Potter and different officers tried to apprehension the 20-year-old during a postulation stop.

Potter and the serviceman she was training, Anthony Luckey, stopped Wright the day of April 11 for expired licence tags and an aerial freshener hanging from his mirror. Testimony and video grounds shows that Wright got retired of the car but tried to interruption distant and get backmost successful erstwhile the officers told him determination was a warrant for his apprehension connected a gross misdemeanor weapons possession violation.

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Potter and her attorneys person said she meant to usage her Taser to halt him but accidentally grabbed her gun earlier she changeable Wright successful the chest.

Much of Thursday's grounds focused connected what happened aft Potter changeable Wright and helium past drove disconnected and crashed into an oncoming car astir a artifact away. The defence objected aggregate times, arguing that the grounds and immoderate of the images shown were needlessly repetitive and inflammatory.

Engh told Judge Regina Chu that the contented astatine manus was Potter’s thought process in the infinitesimal that she yelled “Taser, Taser, Taser” and pulled the trigger of her gun.

But Engh said the authorities had spent “an inordinate magnitude of clip presenting prejudicial evidence" astir the crash, which helium said was caused by the gravely wounded Wright's excessive speed. “I didn’t spot immoderate grounds directed towards the impervious of guilt today, but alternatively grounds of sordid pictures and prejudicial interaction that had small relevance," helium said.

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Frank countered that due to the fact that the authorities is seeking a lengthier sentence, the grounds was applicable to amusement that Potter’s actions recklessly created a information to others. He said she changeable Wright erstwhile helium was inactive successful a presumption to run his car, and that she violated her presumption of spot arsenic an officer. He blamed her for the crash, successful which Wright's woman and the aged operator of the oncoming car were earnestly injured. The authorities besides contends that Potter's actions endangered Luckey and different serviceman who was assisting successful the arrest.

The driver's wife, who was successful the car Wright struck but wasn't earnestly injured, testified that the clang accelerated her husband's declining health. Her daughter's grounds backed that up. Wright's woman said she inactive suffers from the effects of her breached jaw. Jurors saw a photograph of her bleeding from the mouth.

The grounds of officers who rushed to the clang scene, and videos, suggested that Potter's actions mightiness person enactment them astatine hazard and delayed attempts to prevention Wright's life. They told the assemblage they didn't cognize astatine archetypal that Wright had been changeable and they weren't definite what they were dealing with astatine the clang scene. They said that due to the fact that of the anticipation that Wright was equipped — helium wasn't — they held backmost with guns drawn for astir 8 1/2 minutes earlier pulling him from his car and trying to resuscitate him.

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The first-degree manslaughter number requires prosecutors to beryllium that Potter acted recklessly. The second-degree manslaughter number requires them to beryllium culpable negligence. Neither complaint requires impervious that she intended to kill. The sentencing guidelines telephone for 7 years and 2 months successful situation connected the archetypal complaint and 4 years connected the other.

Prosecutors indispensable beryllium aggravating circumstances — known arsenic “Blakely factors” nether a 2004 Minnesota Supreme Court determination — to get a condemnation of much than 8 years and 7 months. The statutory maximum is 15 years connected the astir superior count. They haven't said however overmuch other situation clip they'll question if Potter is convicted.

A similar process happened successful the proceedings this year of erstwhile Minneapolis constabulary serviceman Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of second-degree execution successful the death of George Floyd. Frank and different prosecutors successful that lawsuit asked Judge Peter Cahill for a longer condemnation than the 12 1/2 years recommended nether the sentencing guidelines. The justice sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years, saying prosecutors established that Chauvin abused his presumption of authorization and treated Floyd with peculiar cruelty, that respective children witnessed the transgression live, and that Chauvin knew that kneeling connected Floyd’s cervix was dangerous.

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Find the AP’s afloat sum of the Daunte Wright case: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-daunte-wright

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