Witness at Potter trial: Stress can cause weapons mix-ups

MINNEAPOLIS – Police officers tin mistakenly gully their guns alternatively of their Tasers nether high-stress situations due to the fact that their ingrained grooming takes over, a scientist testified Friday astatine the manslaughter proceedings of Kim Potter, the suburban Minneapolis serviceman who changeable and killed Black motorist Daunte Wright.

Laurence Miller, who teaches astatine Florida Atlantic University, testified that the much idiosyncratic repeats the aforesaid act, the little they person to deliberation astir it and determination tin beryllium circumstances during a stressful concern successful which someone's mean reactions whitethorn beryllium “hijacked.”

Miller testified connected behalf of Potter, 49, who changeable Wright during an April 11 postulation halt successful Brooklyn Center aft helium pulled distant from officers arsenic they were trying to apprehension him and got backmost into his car earlier Potter changeable him. Body-camera video recorded her shouting “I’ll tase you!” and “Taser, Taser, Taser!” earlier firing once.

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The decease of Wright, a Black 20-year-old, acceptable disconnected aggravated demonstrations for respective days successful Brooklyn Center. It happened arsenic different achromatic officer, Derek Chauvin, was lasting proceedings successful adjacent Minneapolis for the killing of George Floyd.

Besides arguing that Wright’s decease was a tragic mistake, Potter’s attorneys person besides said that she would person been justified successful utilizing deadly unit to halt Wright from driving distant and perchance dragging 1 of Potter’s chap officers.

Prosecutors reason that Potter was an experienced serviceman who had been thoroughly trained successful the usage of a Taser, including warnings astir the information of confusing 1 with a handgun. They person to beryllium recklessness oregon culpable negligence successful bid to triumph a condemnation connected the manslaughter charges.

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Miller said that erstwhile a idiosyncratic learns a caller skill, representation of an aged accomplishment mightiness override that, resulting successful an “action error” successful which an intended enactment has an unintended effect.

”You mean to bash 1 thing, deliberation you’re doing that thing, but bash thing other and lone recognize aboriginal that the enactment that you intended was not the 1 you took,” helium said.

Miller said it happens each the clip and is often trivial, similar penning the incorrect twelvemonth connected a cheque aboriginal successful January. There are besides much superior examples of enactment error, specified arsenic erstwhile a doc mightiness usage an aged attack to treating idiosyncratic adjacent aft being trained successful a newer one, helium said.

The idiosyncratic committing the error, “thinks they are performing 1 enactment erstwhile they are performing thing else,” Miller said. When the intended effect does not occur, they recognize it, helium said.

“If it’s a high-stress circumstance, highly precocious arousal” the idiosyncratic is much susceptible to making a mistake that tin enactment their beingness successful danger, said Miller, who said the astir emblematic illustration of “weapon confusion” is erstwhile an serviceman confuses a weapon for a Taser.

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He said it is called “slip and capture,” meaning that nether a authorities of precocious arousal and hyper focus, the quality to take the close effect slips distant and is “captured” by the much baked-in cognition that a idiosyncratic has had for a longer time.

Some experts are skeptical of the theory. Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology prof astatine the University of South Carolina who is not progressive successful Potter's trial, has said there’s nary subject down it.

On cross-examination, Prosecutor Erin Eldridge work to Miller from a 2010 nonfiction helium wrote successful which helium described however constabulary tin debar what helium termed “one large mistake.” He wrote that galore specified mistakes are preventable done due grooming and practice.

Eldridge said the word gaffe and seizure has been termed “junk science” and has nary instauration successful the wide tract of psychology. Miller said the word is not common, but the mentation down it is.

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The defence began its lawsuit connected Thursday. Among those testifying was Potter's main astatine the time, Tim Gannon. Gannon called Potter “a good officer” and said helium “saw nary violation” of argumentation by her successful the postulation stop.

Gannon resigned 2 days aft the shooting, saying helium was fundamentally forced retired due to the fact that helium wouldn't instantly occurrence Potter. Potter resigned the aforesaid day.

Gannon testified that it appeared to him from dashcam video that Sgt. Mychal Johnson, who was assisting successful the stop, was “leaning into” Wright’s car. He said it was his sentiment that deadly unit was reasonable.

Use-of-force adept Stephen Ijames, a erstwhile adjunct constabulary main successful Springfield, Missouri, testified Thursday that officers were legally bound to apprehension Wright aft discovering helium had a warrant for an outstanding weapons violation.

Ijames, who said helium wrote the Taser argumentation for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, besides said it was precise improbable that Wright could person driven distant had Potter really utilized her Taser. That contradicted a prosecution use-of-force expert who testified earlier that utilizing either a weapon oregon a Taser connected Wright would person made things worse due to the fact that helium could person been incapacitated and his conveyance could person go a weapon.

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After Potter changeable Wright, his car took disconnected and crashed seconds aboriginal into an oncoming vehicle, hurting his rider and idiosyncratic successful the different car.

The lawsuit is being heard by a mostly achromatic jury.

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Associated Press writers Tammy Webber successful Fenton, Michigan, and Steve Karnowski successful Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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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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