Jury at Kim Potter trial in Wright death returns Tuesday

2 years ago 297

MINNEAPOLIS – A assemblage volition resume deliberations Tuesday successful the proceedings of a suburban Minneapolis constabulary officer who says she meant to usage her Taser alternatively of her weapon erstwhile she changeable and killed Black motorist Daunte Wright.

The assemblage met for astir a 5 hours Monday pursuing closing arguments successful which prosecutors accused Kim Potter of a “blunder of epic proportions” successful Wright's decease successful an April 11 postulation halt — but said a mistake was nary defense.

Potter's attorneys countered that Wright, who was attempting to get distant from officers arsenic they sought to handcuff him for an outstanding warrant connected a weapons charge, “caused the full incident.”

Potter, who is white, is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter. If convicted of the astir superior charge, Potter, 49, would look a condemnation of astir 7 years nether authorities guidelines, though prosecutors person said they volition question more.

The mostly achromatic jury got the lawsuit aft astir a week and a fractional of grounds astir an apprehension that went awry, mounting disconnected aggravated protests successful Brooklyn Center conscionable arsenic adjacent Minneapolis was connected borderline implicit Derek Chauvin's proceedings successful George Floyd's death. Potter resigned 2 days aft Wright's death.

Prosecutor Erin Eldridge called Wright’s decease “entirely preventable. Totally avoidable.” She urged the assemblage not to excuse it arsenic a mistake: "Accidents tin inactive beryllium crimes if they hap arsenic a effect of reckless oregon culpable negligence."

“She drew a deadly weapon,” Eldridge said. “She aimed it. She pointed it astatine Daunte Wright’s chest, and she fired.”

Potter's lawyer Earl Gray argued that Wright was to blasted for trying to fly from police. Potter mistakenly grabbed her weapon alternatively of her Taser due to the fact that the postulation halt “was chaos,” helium said.

“Daunte Wright caused his ain death, unfortunately,” helium said. He besides argued that shooting Wright wasn't a crime.

“In the locomotion of life, nobody’s perfect. Everybody makes mistakes," Gray said. “My gosh, a mistake is not a crime. It conscionable isn’t successful our freedom-loving country."

Potter testified Friday that she “didn’t privation to wounded anybody” and that she was “sorry it happened."

Eldridge said the lawsuit wasn’t astir whether Potter was sorry.

“Of people she feels atrocious astir what she did. … But that has nary spot successful your deliberations,” she said.

Playing Potter’s assemblage camera video framework by frame, Eldridge sought to rise doubts astir Potter’s grounds that she fired aft seeing “fear” connected the look of different officer, then-Sgt. Mychal Johnson, who was leaning into the car’s passenger-side doorway and trying to handcuff Wright.

The defence has argued that Johnson was astatine hazard of being dragged and that Potter would person been justified successful utilizing deadly force. But Eldridge pointed retired that for overmuch of the enactment Potter was down a 3rd officer, whom she was training, and that Johnson didn't travel into her camera's presumption until aft the changeable was fired — and past it showed the apical of his caput arsenic helium backed away.

“Sgt. Johnson was intelligibly not acrophobic of being dragged,” Eldridge said. “He ne'er said helium was scared. He didn’t accidental it then, and helium didn’t attest to it successful court.”

Eldridge besides noted that Potter enactment different radical astatine hazard erstwhile she fired her gun, highlighting that the 3rd serviceman was truthful adjacent to the shooting that a cartridge casing bounced disconnected his face.

“Members of the jury, harmless handling of a firearm does not see firing it into a car with 4 radical straight successful harm’s way,” she said.

Gray started his closing statement by attacking Eldridge's summation, highlighting however she had played slowed-down depictions of events that Potter saw successful existent time.

“Playing the video not astatine the close velocity wherever it showed chaos, playing it arsenic dilatory arsenic imaginable … that’s the rabbit spread of misdirection,” Gray said. He besides noted that Potter's assemblage camera was mounted connected her thorax and gave a somewhat antithetic position than her ain vision.

Judge Regina Chu told jurors that intent is not portion of the charges and that the authorities doesn’t person to beryllium she tried to termination Wright.

The justice said for first-degree manslaughter, prosecutors indispensable beryllium that Potter caused Wright’s decease portion committing the transgression of reckless handling of a firearm. This means they indispensable beryllium that she committed a conscious oregon intentional enactment portion handling oregon utilizing a firearm that creates a important oregon unjustifiable hazard that she was alert of and disregarded, and that she endangered safety.

For second-degree manslaughter, prosecutors indispensable beryllium she acted with culpable negligence, meaning she consciously took a accidental of causing decease oregon large bodily harm.

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Associated Press writer Michael Tarm successful Chicago contributed to this story. Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin.

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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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